Super Quirks
by windblade8
Summary: Only the best of the best can be hero's and Izuku is determined to be one of those hero that graduates from the UA university's Hero Certification Program. He'll have to deal with the mystery of his past and battle his friends and enemies just to get to graduation no telling what the school year has in store . A few OCs and some ooc. Based off the book super powereds.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own my hero academia or super powereds. This is strictly fan made.

The two well-dressed men materialized outside of a small white brick building. The taller of the two pulled out a miniature notepad, made an entry with the slash of a few pen strokes, and then stowed it away once more.

"Where are we, Mr. Transport?" The speaker was the shorter man, wearing a black suit with a black tie and presently putting on a pair of black sunglasses to fight back the sun's penetrating glare.

"Musutafu, Mr. Numbers," replied the taller man, who by elimination could only be Mr. Transport, as he adjusted the sunglasses he had put on before they departed. "I was under the impression our next case was in Tokyo," commented Mr. Numbers.

"He was; however, there was an incident last week. It was found that he had a living relative here." "I see," said Mr. Numbers. With that, the two of them walked around to the front of the building and proceeded inward. They were stopped as soon as they entered, a tired looking police officer pointed them in the direction of a window.

Walking over the two men saw a plump woman with green hair and eyes crying while holding a younger man with messy green hair and forest green eyes who had tear stained cheeks.

"We'd like to see the boy," said Mr. Numbers. "Of course you would," Dr. Hubert agreed. "However, first I'd afraid you will have to wait for the detective to finish the debriefing and the two to calm down a bit" the officer told the men

In the room the detective was writing as the boy told his story. Midoriya Izuku told his story from the arms of his long lost mother

"You do not know the name of the man you were with for the last eight years?" the detective asked for what felt like the millionth time but Izuku just shook his head looking down at his lap

"no sir, I just knew him as sensei"he mumbled feeling the grip on him tighten

"and this Sensei didn't do anything to you? Its ok you are safe now" the detective asked gently "what!" Izukus eyes shoot up wide looking from the detective to his mother

"no sensei would never. H.. he trained me to be a hero" he spoke softly looking back at his hands and gripping his pants

"Izuku.. honey" Inko tried but couldn't bring herself to say more "your file says that you are quirkless son. I'm afraid the HCP will not accept you" the detective was not so gentle, the boy would have to learn that the world was not so kind and you could not be a hero without a quirk

"sensei g..gave me his, its" the door slammed open and the two men stepped in. "that will be all detective" spoke Mr. Numbers as they showed the man a badge before joining mr. Transport over near the mother and son

"Midoriya Izuku. I am Mr. Transport and this is my partner Mr. Numbers. I believe we have some business to discuss" the larger man spoke giving a slight bow. "Detective do you mind showing us to a unmonitored room" Mr. Numbers spoke clearly.

*a few minutes later*

Sitting in a room the two suited men sat on one side of the table and the mother and son sat on the other facing them

"Our company is interested in you Midoriya" Mr. Numbers said flatly "we were tasked to locate you and give you a offer you will not refuse" he finished

"n..now wait one minute. I just got my baby back and now your company wants to try and take him away! Absolutely not" The timid woman put her foot down

"Do you feel the same way Midoriya" Mr. Transport asked the young man "You did say you wanted to become a hero didn't you" he was looking directly at the man

"w..whats the offer?" Izuku finally asked after a moment of silence looking anywhere but at his mothers shocked face

"our company would like to help you get into a Hero Course University of your choosing, we are aware of your circumstance and want to help you along with finding the man who trained you for the last few years" Mr. Numbers explained

Izuku looked between the two men, then over to his mother

"Ok. But my sensei is dead, he died three years ago" he said sadly "But I will become the hero he wanted me to be so I accept. As long as UA is the school"

Mr. Numbers wrote everything down "why UA, if you don't mind my asking" Mr. Transport asked curiously

Izuku just gave a big smile "because its the school All Might graduated from"

*later that day*

Back in the Midoriya home Inko was moving around fussing over izuku who sat on the couch more then a little awkwardly. He hadn't seen his mother in years, not since he was a ten year old boy. Now at eighteen he was taking a offer to join a hero program at college.

"oh I need to enroll you in school… but then you'd most likely be behind by the time school starts" Inko frowned

"um.. I was home schooled so..so I think I can pass the entrance exam" Izuku chimed in watching his mother as tears began to build in her eyes

"I don't even know my baby anymore" she cried scaring izuku

Moving quickly he pulled her into a tight embrace "its ok mom, im here. Sorry I worried you all these years"he had tears running down his face as well

"Izuku do you really still want to be a hero? After all you been through wouldn't you rather live a normal life?" she asked her son wiping her eyes of the tears

"mom, I've been training to be a hero, its my dream." he told her stepping back to give her some room "I'm sorry I was gone for so long but my sensei gave me a gift before he died. I cant let it go to waste"

With a sigh Inko made her way to the room that used to belong to izuku. I left it the same thought after all that has happened I wanted to clean it out.

In the room there were All Might posters, figures, and all kinds of collectable's for the former number one hero. Izuku smiled as he took in his old room with a warm feeling growing in his chest

"it's perfect, thank you mom" he gave her a bright smile before falling out on the bed. Inko couldn't help the smile working its my on face "alright then get cleaned up and I'll have dinner ready soon, then we will work on getting all the test and paperwork you will need for college in a few months" turning she made her way to the kitchen. She didn't know everything about her son anymore but she could trust he was still the loving caring boy she raised.

*SIX MONTHS LATER*

Izuku walked onto the UA campus with wide eyes, his mother by his side looking around nervously. He had passed all the test and had the needed documents detailing his education so all he really needed was to find his dorm "it says you are in the Melbrook building dear. The map says its a block that way" Inko pointed with a map in her hand

Izuku nodded following her directions, there was so many people walking around and looking just as lost as them. Must be freshmen too, he thought. In his hand he held a notebook and was itching to document all the different quirks he could see.

Coming up to the building the midoriya's noted that it looked less like a dorm and more like a medium sized house. He didn't see how it was possible to fit many people in this one-story brick home, but he trusted that whoever was managing housing had that in hand. Izuku walked through the front door and shifted his backpack once more. It bounced and landed on his shoulder lightly, betraying that it was far from stuffed to the brim with Izuku's few articles of clothing and worldly possessions. One of the first things every wanderer lets go of is his unnecessary items. Travel light, move quick, stay alive, It was a hard habit to brake.

In front of Izuku was a cream-colored wall with a notice welcoming him to Melbrook Hall. There was another wall to his left and a hallway to his right. The notice had an arrow directing him to follow the foyer and then take a left.

He did as he was told with his mother following close behind him they found a sturdy door with no window or discernible handle. There was only a small box jutting out with an oval-shaped green pad on top. Izuku might not have been the most up-to-date with technology, but even he could figure this one out. He pressed his thumb to the oval, and after a minute the door opened with the sound of a small beep.

He stepped out of the foyer and into what looked to him more like a living room than anything else. There were several couches and chairs set up, a metal coffee table in the center of the room, and a large, flat-screen television on the wall directly across from him. It was decorated in white and red and smelled like an odd combination of flowers and chemicals, which izuku could only assume meant they were using an artificial air freshener. He walked around the room, taking in the scene.

On each wall perpendicular to the entrance was another metal door and scanner, these with signs above them. On the one to the left of the entrance was "Boys" while the one to right said, predictably, "Girls." izuku went over to the television, only to notice that there were open doorways on either side of this wall that one could walk through. He did just that and found himself in a white-tiled kitchen. It had a large sink, a stove with multiple burners and a griddle, and all kind of cooking knicknacks.

walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room, then over to the boys' door. Pressing his thumb to the scanner, the door opened and the midoriya's walked into what they could only assume was the common room. There was another television on the far end, along with pool and Ping-Pong tables. The other end held a set of dart boards and a wooden door with the word "Bathroom" on it.

Opposite of the entrance were three more metal doors. These had scanners clearly in place, but no signs, though they were numbered 1, 2, and 3. With a shrug and a heft of his pack, Izuku walked over to the middle door. He pressed his thumb down and waited for the beep, but this time all that came out was a harsh buzzer. He tried twice more before giving up and trying the room on the left, which was room one.

This time the door buzzed and opened, though he couldn't help noticing a chime that followed the usual opening sounds. He wasn't sure what that meant, and the sight before him left him little free brain space in which to contemplate it.

Saying his room was luxurious would be something of an overstatement, but it was definitely more opulent than a boy who was always on the run was accustomed to and slightly bigger than his badroom at his mothers. There was a large bed in one corner with a desk and computer set up in the other.

Between the two was a large window with sunlight streaming through the blue curtains. The floor was carpeted, and as izuku walked across it, he saw that opposite the desk there was a closet next to a chest of drawers. Slipping his pack off, he walked over and pulled open a drawer, trying to figure out if he had enough clothing to warrant any kind of organizational system.

He was shocked to see that the drawer he opened already contained many, many pairs of socks. Checking the next drawer, he found shorts, then T-shirts, then he went back to the top and found boxers. That drawer he slammed shut more quickly than the others. Synapses flying, izuku came to the only logical conclusion. "Crud; this is someone else's room."

It only made sense; this place was too nice and too well-furnished. Why had the door let him in, though? Izuku brushed that thought out of his head quickly. It was faulty equipment, not his fault, but it wouldn't make it less awkward if this room's inhabitant came home to find an intruder. Vince turned on his heels, snatching up his backpack and bolting for the door.

Blocking his way was his mother "izuku dear this is your room, I figured you wouldn't pack much so I had some things sent over beforehand" she gave him a motherly smile, she was proud that over the months she had been able to pick up on his habits and traits.

"oh.. thanks mom" he smiled embarrassed he didn't think of that "you are welcome honey" stepping forward she wrapped him in a tight hug "im going to get going, but you can always reach me" she kissed his cheek and watched it glow red from embarrassment

"you better call me at least twice a week do you understand" inko was not going to chance loosing her baby again "ok mom I well, I promise" and with that Inko Midoriya walked out leaving her son to his new life on campus.

"Dude, that is some rocking hair,"A voice said from behind. Izuku turned around to see a boy slightly taller with chocolate skin and short locs who for some reason was wearing a pair of shades.

"um.. thank you" izuku didn't really know how to respond

"Names Ebony Dex nice to meet you, just so you know the doors are keyed to us; they only open for the right person. If that room opened for you, then it's because it's your room. Did you even read the letter they gave you?" "Letter?" Izuku asked with a sense of dread. He did remember a slip of paper that had fallen out of his pack, but he had just dismissed it as an old food wrapper or something. "I'll get mine," said the boy. "Hang on a sec..."

"oh I..im Midoriya Izuku" he gave a bow before looking around "um which room is yours?"Izuku asked as the boy stepped out of the room.

He came back mere moments later, holding a white piece of paper with fold lines across it. "Here we go," Dex said. "'Rooms have been set up for each attending member by the program. These will be stocked for members as deemed necessary, and are keyed to each attendee's individual fingerprints. Communal areas are open to all, but will be under the jurisdiction of your administrators. You are expected to be in the central common room promptly at seven PM on move-in day to meet with your administrators and go over dorm rules'." "Huh," said Izuku.

"And to answer your question im the one right next to you, and just between you and me the walls are a bit then so try to keep it down if you want to have a lady friend over" he winked making Izuku blush wildly. Waving his hands around in a panic "I.. I wouldn't" he was a stuttering mess making Dex laugh

"Im just messing, you can call me Dex since we'll be living together. Ok Izuku?" he smiled at the flustered boy.

"o..ok" Izuku was finally calming down "since we are living together I guess that means you are in the HCP as well. If you don't mind me asking what is your quirk?" Izuku asked taking a seat on one of the couches

"Yeah I'm in the HCP. My quirk is shadow scope" Dex told him "I ability to see and hear through the shadows of another person." he explained pointing down at the shadow by their feet

The green haired boy's eyes went wide "that's amazing you like have a a way of knowing everything going on around you" he began mumbling after that gaining a strange look from Dex

With a shrug he just poked midoriya out of his mumble fits. "you sound like you get lost in your head a lot" he laughed

"Well, with you here that rounds out the boys' side. I wonder if any girls have gotten here yet." "Wait, who's our third roommate?" Izuku asked.

"I haven't met anyone but you so far." "Our third got here early and went out to explore campus," Dex told him. "You'll see him tonight at the dorm meeting. He's an... interesting fellow." "That doesn't sounds good," izuku said. "No, but it doesn't sound bad either," Dex pointed out. "Come on, you just arrived and I'm famished. Let's go hit up a dining hall for lunch." "Do you know where one is?" Izuku asked. "Not really," Dex admitted. "But thats half the fun"


	2. Chapter 2

Momo saw a pair of boys walking away from the building as she was heading towards it. They took no notice of her, clearly absorbed in their own conversation. Her new roommates, no doubt. Fantastic. the one with the brown locs was cute, or would be if it he weren't wearing those ridiculous sunglasses in the shade. The other one, though, he had a very noticeable head of hair? Green and bushy, he may have trouble with the secret identity challenge before the semester even started? Though she hoped that wouldn't hurt his chances.

Daddy had been strangely unbending in denying her desire to dorm with the regular people, saying that his daughter deserved the best. She didn't really see why she needed to be in the reinforced building; It was embarrassing that she got special treatment even if it was shared with four other people .

Momo didn't know what to expect from this group. Still, no one could say that Yaoyorozu Momo didn't make the best of any situation. She had taken a guiding hand in the construction of their dormitory, creating an environment that was spacious, desirable, and above all else, simple.

She breezed through the hallway, disregarding the note that hung on the entrance. A quick thumb scan took her to the central common room. She surveyed the work of the decorators critically. They had done an amazing job. Now at least when the other students asked her why she was in this small dorm set off at the edge of campus she could humbly explain that it was the last dorm they had to offer, it would look like she waited till the last minute to apply for housing but it was better then looking spoiled.

It wasn't her ideal situation, but it would work. Momo moved briskly to the girls' side, anxious to get through lest the last boy be lounging about, She wasn't quite ready to meet her room mates yet.

The girls' side was identical to the boys', save that there were only two rooms, numbered 4 and 5 respectively. While group bathrooms were fine for males, Momo had suggested that women needed their own bathrooms.

On that thought, Momo realized her other roommate was sitting in one of the plush pink chairs Momo had picked out, watching the television on mute. It seemed to be a nature show, and the girl was as silent as the screen, just watching and occasionally cocking her head to a different angle.

The girl was pose and peaceful was the word that came to momo's mind. She had long green braids with flowers placed in different spots almost making them look like vines.

The girl's clothing was clean at least, though it had the look of something that had been worn for many years. Ironically, Momo's jeans had the same appearance, though hers had achieved the look through corporate innovation and the fashion demands of the public. The most disconcerting thing about the girl, though, was her eyes. While Momo had always considered her own black eyes, especially when paired with her long black hair, to be rather stunning, they held no candle to the dark green irises that encircled this girl's pupils. "Ahem," Momo said trying to gain the young woman's attention, it would be rude to just walk by and not introduce herself. "Good afternoon, I take it that you are my dorm mate?"

The girl swiveled her head toward Momo in a motion that seemed more gracefully than a human should have the right to be. She blinked those round dark green eyes twice, then gave an oddly- shaped grin. "You snuck up on me," that girl said. "Oh, well, I do apologize," Momo said formally.

"it's alright," said the girl. "I should have been paying more attention"

"All right, then," Momo said, shifting on her feet uncomfortably. She knew everyone staying here had a strong quirk, but she had been unable to wheedle her father into telling her precisely what to expect. "My name is Momo. What do you go by?"she gave a polite smile

The girl blinked slowly before giving a light smile "my given name is Shiozaki Ibara , you may call me Ibara if you like"Ibara had a very calming presence that momo couldn't help falling into

"why are you watching the tv on mute?" she finally had to ask "I enjoy the nature without all the talking ruining the peace it brings" Ibara said turning back to the tv

"Ah, well, I see," Momo said slowly, eyeing room number four and edging her way towards it. "Well, I'll leave you to that, then. See you tonight at the meeting." With those words, momo jammed her thumb on her door scanner and popped it open. Closing the door behind her Momo allowed a smile on her face. It was strange how calm and relaxed that girl made her, how it felt like they were already friends despite just meeting each other , Ibara was drawing her in with those dark green eyes. Momo had grown up wealthy and aristocratic, and if there was one thing she wasn't used to it was genuine kindness from a stranger.

Outside momo's door, Ibara sat in the chair, eyes still trained on her nature show. "I like her, I hope we can be friends," Ibara whispered to a small stuffed bear that sat between her leg and the armrest of the chair.

*v*

"See, I told you we'd have fun," Dex gloated as he munched on a thick hamburger. "We didn't have fun," Izuku corrected. "We got lost. For half an hour. Until I went into a building and asked for directions." "And wasn't it lucky I brought along a guy with no masculinity issues about asking for directions?"Dex pointed out.

"I think you're stretching on this one," Izuku replied, picking at the basket of chicken fingers. Being a wanderer had given him a pretty ironclad stomach when it came to grease and taste, but he had also always had to subsist on whatever was available at the time. As a result, he had a small appetite and an equally small percentage of body fat.

He reflected ruefully that if only he had some muscle on his wiry frame it would have been very pronounced. "I might be," Dex admitted. "But then again, you haven't even told me what you can do. I feel like im at a disadvantage here"dex was happy that he seemed to have gotten midoriya to calm down and open up a bit

"Shh," Izuku hushed him quickly. "We're in public; you know we can't talk about that kind of stuff." "Oh please," Dex said, taking another bite of his burger then guzzling down soda. "We're at one of the only five colleges in the nation that offer certification for Supers to become the government-approved responders known as Heroes. I'm sure, like, everyone in this cafeteria is a damn Super in disguise."

The young men paused for a moment and looked around. Besides themselves, there was a small group of ladies halfway across the dining hall, and a large table mixed up of boys and girls clear on the other end. There were also a few tables where, like Izuku and Dex, only one or two occupants sat. No one in the room looked particularly Super, or even interesting for that matter. Well, with the exception of the girl with short orange hair in a side ponytail sitting with her friend. Izuku did notice her as he did his visual sweep. Even aside from the colored hair, something about her stood out.

"Okay, maybe half the people," Dex conceded as he finished looking around him. "According to the doctors at who told me about this place, less than half of one percent of the student population is enrolled in the Hero Certification Program," Izuku informed him.

"So odds are pretty good you and I are the only people with in the program here." Dex let out a low whistle. "Less than half of one percent? That seems really low." Izuku shrugged. " Even if this is only one of five schools, UA is still a big university. A lot of people are going to come here wanting a run-of-the-mill education." "Poor bastards," Dex said, shaking his head. "All kinds of awesome stuff going on around them and they have no clue about it."

"At least they better not,"Izuku said. "I heard that keeping your abilities a secret is, like, half of your grade. They say if you're found out you have to do some kind of awful makeup courses to graduate, and that's only an option if you're at the top of the class." Izuku unthinkingly ran his hands through his hair.

At least the campus was full of enough people with their own strange features that he might have at least half a chance of blending in. "Don't worry about the 'do," Dex told him. "I didn't think it meant anything significant, and I already knew you had some sort of power when we met. Of course, I still don't know what the damn thing is... But hey, that's what friendships are built around, right? Secrets and mysteries."

"You're something of a drama queen, aren't you?" Izuku joked. "Gasp! A dagger, straight into my heart," Dex said, grasping his chest and leaning back in his chair.

His breathing became labored and his hands slumped to the sides. He was dead, his life ended before its prime by the harsh words of someone he had thought of as a fast-growing friend. But hark! One of his hands lifted oh so slowly, making its way to the table and grappling the hamburger, then raising it triumphantly to his opened and waiting mouth.

"I don't even want to know what's going on in your head right now," Izuku sighed to his slumped-back friend. "Good call," Dex assured him. izuku sighed and pushed away his now-forgotten chicken strips. Dex was loud, indiscreet as could be, and showy every chance he got. But he was also the only person to try to be his friend in years. This alone made him someone Izuku knew he'd need to keep around.

Izuku was only in his room for a few minutes when he heard knocking on his door

Opening it dex let himself in "ok I could find out on my own but that's no fun" he said with a grin "so as a friend you should show me your power first hand"

Izuku just rubbed his head with a sigh "ok. But I don't have a lot of control over it so" stepping back he held out his arm and focused, in a few second's his arm glowed with red veins flowing up and green sparks

"whoa thats flashy" he stared "what does it do though?"

"It's like super strength I guess" Izuku mumbled letting the power fade, he flexed his arm trying to loosen it up from the strain. Dex nodded "well I'm sure that'll come in handy in the HCP.. granted you gain control you know" "yeah. Control" izuku mumbled


	3. Chapter 3

The green-haired boy was fidgeting nervously. Momo noted that in the back of her mind, wondering if he was uncomfortable with group housing or if he was just always nervous. Every little detail added up to the sum of who a person was, and that was information worth having if she was going to be living with these people on a regular basis.

The five students were assembled in the central common room scattered among various seats. Ibara was off to the side on her own, save for the stuffed bear she kept perched carefully in her lap. Momo had been tempted to ask why she had a stuffed animal, but the moment she had looked into those green eyes all desire had melted away she didn't want to embarrass the girl if she drew comfort from it. The boys were clustered together for the most part. Green hair and sunglasses were lounging on the white couch, with the third boy in the chair to their side. He was a skinny boy with dark almost Indago hair and eyes, he had bags and looked like he never got enough sleep.

Momo herself had taken a center position in the room,to appear eager for whatever authority figure Daddy had managed to gotten to watch them. Momo didn't expect for whoever showed up to pose any real problem for them; after all, they were all grown, but she still preferred to no give them any reason watch her closely.

As the clock struck seven a man appeared in front of them in a suit "hello students, I am Mr. Transport. I and my partner well be incharge of checking up on you every now and then" he spoke quickly and clearly "Now, I want to be clear here. We've met most of you already when we were selecting people appropriate for the 'scholarship'"

"now there are only a few rules and they are mostly the same as the schools"

"Um, what rules are you talking about?" The question came timidly from the green-haired boy.

"First, you are to keep your identities secret at all times. This is a requirement of all those who participate in the Hero Certification Program, or HCP as we call it around here, and it is the duty of the administrators to observe who has broken it, intentionally or otherwise. That will be covered in more depth tomorrow during your first class. Secondly, there is to be no fighting with other Supers or with regular humans outside the confines of the classroom."

"Wait," the green-haired boy said again. "We're going to fighting in class?" "Of course," said Mr. Transport. "You are training to be a Hero. This means you must learn to fight against time, villains, and environmental conditions to save as many people as possible in any given scenario. Combat training will be a very important part of that."

"do not worry, all fights are strictly monitored, and there is always someone with a healing power on hand to tend to both parties afterward."he finished staring at the green-haired boy.

"Now, do any of you have any questions about the rules I have set down so far?" There was silence "Good would you all like to make introductions?" he looked around before pointing at Dex

Sighing "the names is Ebony Dex, yes I was born in japan and my ability is shadow scope" Dex finished "would you like to elaborate on your power or maybe share a fun fact?" Mr. Transport asked

"I'm able to see in hear through shadows" Dex said flatly noticing the way Momo and Ibara were looking at him "calm your tits I have better things to do then peep on girls" he sucked his teeth

Momo blush at that looking away from the boy ashamed of herself for jumping to such a conclusion when he described his quirk "I guess I'll go next my name is Yaoyorozu Momo, my quirk is called Creation. I am able to create items as long as I know the chemical makeup" she wasn't going to tell them that she used fat to do it.

Next Izuku raised his hand "um I.I midoriya Izuku and I have super strength" he all but mumbled out

"Hitoshi Shinso, my quirk is brain wash" shinso said simple not bothering to go into detail last Ibara went "my name is Shiozaki Ibara my quirk is vines, I am able to shift my hair into vines that can be controlled" she gave everyone a smile

"Very good I" "wait are we just going to gloss over that shinso just said he could brainwash people?" Dex interrupted "I get funny looks because I can look through shadows but he can says brainwash and its fine"

"you said your name was dex right?" shinso asked "Yeah" as soon as he responded shinso took control of him "I can gain control when others respond to me. I cant make you talk and cant really make anyone do anything beyond simple motor functions" he told them with a sigh

Izuku was waving a hand in front of dex "um his he ok" he asked

"he'll be fine" shinso released his hold and dex blinked ".. what was I saying"

"Yes, well." Mr. Transport paused and resisted the urge to press his fingers to his temples. He didn't need the children seeing that he could be annoyed, gotten to, or given a headache. It was best to just get things back to business. "One last thing before I retire. As you were all told, classes for UA take place on the ground level, while classes for the Hero Certification Program take place in a special underground campus. Now, other dorms that house HCP students have special elevators to convey their students between campuses. However, since ours is new and it is not yet hooked up to the network, I will be your method of travel between these two schools."

"Why couldn't we just get clearance to use an elevator at a nearby dorm?" Momo asked

"Too much paperwork," Mr. Transport said with what he hoped was a believable grin. "No, in reality it is simply that getting approval takes months and months, and since we were unable to secure that approval in time. Fear not, though, for I know all of your class schedules and I will always be around to teleport you as needed."

"How do we get back up?" Dex said, finally getting his bearing enough to ask a question. "You can call for me on my phone or you can ride the elevator. Getting up doesn't require clearance; only going down. Now, I'm sure you all know there is a meeting welcoming you all tomorrow at eight in the morning, so I expect to see each of you here ready to go promptly at seven forty-five. Aside from that, please intermingle, get to know one another, and have a great night." with a nod he vanished

"ok then, before I get my brain jacked again I'm turning in" Dex shoot a quick glare at shinso before walking off to the boys side, Izuku not far behind

"Maybe you should apologize" Momo suggested looking at shinso "He'll get over it, and maybe he'll stop talking so much" he walked out of the dorm completely

"I'm sure they will be fine, would you like to watch a movie with me?" Ibara asked standing up and waiting for Momo "I'd like that" the two girls walked to the girls side.

The first thing Dex did, once he had secured his door tightly shut behind him, was to shed those idiotic sunglasses. He blinked several times as his eyes readjusted, then strolled over to his desk and turned on his computer.

He opened a word processing program and immediately began writing down the day's events with as much detail as he could remember. It was a very minor challenge for him. Dex made no motion to save his file as he typed. He had procured a surge protector that doubled as a battery in case of a power outage, so he was relatively certain nothing would interrupt his process or destroy his work thus far.

It was probably redundant in a place like this with safeguards on top of the safeguards, but Dex hadn't survived eighteen years without learning to be a little redundant in his safety measures. It took him only a few minutes to finish - Dex had shockingly quick hands - and then he leaned back in his chair and began reviewing the day's events.

He had done quite well and had adhered to the primary tenants of survival in a new area: speak much, say little, and see all. The glasses had been a good addition; he needed to thank Ms. Pips for that suggestion next time he was in Takarazuka. They kept anyone from reading what was on his face effectively, and they made him look like something of a jackass. That suited Dex's needs just fine.

People overlooked and underestimated those they thought of as stupid, which was precisely what he wanted.Dex was a boy who could see whatever anyone in a three mile radius was doing and saying as long as he had a face and name. He was going to need every advantage he could get, and surprise was an excellent one to have. dex continued scrolling down, rereading his own recent notes. He had befriended Izuku easily enough, and Shinso was was uncomfortable with his quirk, so getting on his good side would only require and apology and reassurance . Ibara was a toss up she seemed much more guarded around men. Momo, on the other hand, was a whole different story. She had some skill in reading people, but the way her eyes had been darting about during the meeting, how she tilted her head when she was trying to figure out a new aspect to someone. Dex estimated he could get her to trust him within the span of a month. After all, there were few things as vulnerable as someone with just a little bit of knowledge.

Dex finished reading his notes, then went through them twice more. After the final pass, Dex deleted every word he had written and closed the file without saving, making sure to purge the autosave function as he did so. That done, he undressed and got into bed. He would plan for how to handle the next day for only an hour, then allow himself to get some sleep. He needed to be in top form when he met the other students, after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Momo tossed and turned sleeplessly in her bed. There was someone who could be watching her at all times and someone who could brainwash people, and the two already didn't like each other! She didn't know what her daddy was thinking picking these room mates but it was very worrying, she would never know a moments peace until she got to know them better.

Momo had always been good at reading others, a skill she had first learned from watching her daddy interact with other people. Now she was stuck with dorm mates who could be watching her every move, she wouldn't be able to tell what he knew or saw; the thought alone made her blush and pull her covers tightly around her.

The others seemed nice enough though shinso would have to be a little friendlier, she may be wary of Dex but besides the smart mouth and uncomfortably quirk he seemed harmless, Izuku was painfully shy she noted but at least she found a new friend in Ibara.

*V*

Hitoshi was thinking about how besides the smart mouth kid no one had openly criticized his quirk. Sure there was some uncomfortable looks but no one said it was a villains quirk and that made him smile a bit.

"maybe I should apologize" he said out loud turning over in his bed, it wasn't something he was used to. He would have to learn how to deal with being around people constantly. Hitoshi was so used to being avoided that he honestly didn't know how to deal with other people.

Sighing he decided he would see where the HCP meeting would get him and go from there, there had to be people with scarier quirks then his, right? Rolling over one last time he closed his eyes, it would make his mother sad if he didn't at least try to make friends, it was college after all.

*V*

Ibara sat on her knees finishing a prayer before bed, moving to her bed she began brushing her hair and thinking on the others, her dorm mates. Ibara liked them all honestly. It was a nice dynamic with Dexs quick wit and fast mouth, the boy obviously liked to have a good time and while she already knew she wasn't interested in his idea of a good time she was not going to judge the boy.

Hitoshi seemed so lonely, just one look into his eyes and she almost reached out to give the boy a hug. She wanted him to know he was blessed but he stormed off before she could offer him words of encouragement. She would have to try harder next time ibara promised herself.

Izuku her fellow green haired student seemed too shy to speak more than a few words, it was so unlike the normal strong man. Most men with strength type quirks were quick to flaunt it around, he was a welcomed surprise and a breath of fresh air.

Then there was her new friend momo, they had spent a little time watching tv before eventual turning in, momo seemed a little unnerved and on edge. Ibara hoped to calm the other girl some, hopefully in the days to come she well be more open to sharing her feelings.

Finishing her hair she put in up in a bun and turned in for the night wondering what to expect in the morning.

*V*

Izuku was up witting in his journal his new dorm mates had such amazing quirks he couldn't wait to find out more about them, he wished he were bold enough to ask them while they were all together but his nerves got the better of him.

After making sure Dex was ok after his brainwashing izuku had asked him more about his shadow scope, but sadly it seemed like his friend was too upset to talk more. Friend it was new to him, he hadn't had a friend since Kachan and that was years ago.

Finishing his notes Izuku merely undressed, and gotten into bed. Of course, before he slept, Izuku had tenderly removed a gold pocket watch from his backpack and gently wound it as he did every night.

He then checked the time and made sure the watch was running right then set it down in a place of honor on his bedside table. Then he had gotten into bed himself, pausing on his direct flight toward the land of slumber only long enough to run a finger along the watch and softly whisper, "Goodnight, Sensei." After that, he was gone into a dream.

*V*

"Welcome, freshmen!" The speaker was a tall man with glasses, black hair, and a charcoal-colored suit. He cut an impressive figure even from behind his podium, looking around the room emanating confidence and ease, as though he had made this speech dozens of times before.

Which, coincidentally, he had. "It is my pleasure as Dean of the Hero Certification Program to be the first to congratulate you on making the cut and being enrolled in our very elite little academy," the dean continued. "My full name is Blaine Geffries, however, I want you all to just call me Dean Blaine. It is my hope that each and every one of you grow stronger in the years ahead, and that the best of you graduate from here with full certifications and go on to become acclaimed Heroes. I want to watch all of you find the lessons you need to succeed!"

"Of course he does," Dex muttered to Izuku quietly from his seat in the middle of the auditorium. "The more prestige a Hero has, the better it looks on the school that trained them." "I didn't think the five universities that ran this program were in competition," Izuku said curiously.

"Where there is money, there is competition, and these bad boys are government funded," Dex replied. "Now, I know all of you are a little nervous," Dean Blaine said in an understanding voice. "After all, most of you are from schools, if not towns, where you were the strongest present. Having peers around you who can understand and relate to what you're going through is a new experience, and I'm here to tell you that it will be a wonderful one. You're going to have friendships, support, and respect all built on the mutual understanding that only a select few can share."

"You're going to need that support network, too," Dean Blaine continued. "As all of you should know, becoming a Hero is a grueling task. You'll be taking combat classes, training your tactical skills, learning to think around corners, and - possibly most importantly of all - you'll be learning about the ethics behind having and using abilities. And, of course, you'll be doing all of that while maintaining your secret identity up top."

The sound of groans permeated the audience, which was about fifty people strong. Dean Blaine only gave this talk to freshmen. "Now, now, none of that," said Dean Blaine without breaking his smile. "I know many of you have lived out in the open about your abilities for years, but this is how we do things at UA. Learning to protect a secret identity helps you hone a lot of the skills a Hero will need. Ingenuity, thinking on your feet, and planning are all major elements of keeping your secret safe. Those of you who fail at keeping your secret... well, let's just say that fail was the operative word there." There was no laughter at Dean Blaine's joke, not that he had expected any. That was a joke just for him.

"Of course, there are always extenuating circumstances, but let's just say you should do your best to keep the fact that you're a HCP student close to the vest. If you need to show off, work out, or just get the powers pumping, then you are always welcome down here" Dean Blaine reassured them.

"Lovely," Momo said with a smile. She had opted to sit alone near the top of the tiered auditorium. She loved that sort of spot because it allowed her a vantage point above all the others, observing and noting their behavior.

She hadn't been surprised when Ibara joined her. "With that settled, let's go over today's activities, shall we?" Dean Blaine asked rhetorically.

"Since above ground classes don't start until tomorrow, we'll be using today to do our combat ranking. For those of you who don't know, we do rankings among the classes at the beginning of this and end of every other year. This is so we can get a sense of where you're starting from based on the previous test, and how much you've grown by the end. We won't just be taking into account who wins each fight; we'll be looking at how they use their abilities, bodies, and brains to make the most of every situation. Today's will be a single elimination tournament, so the more you win, the more you fight, the better a chance you have to showcase what you can do."

Izuku felt his heart sink. He still had next to zero control, he was hoping they would do some training before going into the one on one fights,he was at a big disadvantage. It was really his own fault; Mr. Transport had warned them there would be combat. He'd even had a passing thought about it. There was still a nagging voice in the back of his brain telling him that he would lose control and brake a limb or kill someone.

"I'd like all of you to come down now and meet the professors who will be overseeing the first battle of your college careers, the freshmen combat coaches: Coach Kan and Coach Kayama!" Dean Blaine announced, gesturing to the side of the stage where a pair of people, both wearing sweats, walked on and joined up with the dean in the center.

The man had white-haired, tall and muscular. The woman, on the other hand, had long black hair, lean, curvy, and just plain sexy. She looked like she wouldn't be able to take on a sack of potatoes, let alone watch over heros in combat. Not that that really mattered to the men in the audience, who were staring unabashedly, with only a few exceptions.

Dex was certainly not one of those exceptions. "Look at the tits on her," he said as he and Izuku rose from their seats and began making their way to the stage with the rest of their class. "You better hope she doesn't have enhanced hearing,"Izuku mumbled trying to calm the blush that came to his face as they descended. "What? Like she doesn't know she had amazing tits? I mean, we can see them through a sweatshirt, I seriously doubt me saying this would result in a groundbreaking realization for her," Dex defended.

"No, but it could be a skull-breaking one for you. The woman teaches heros how to fight, I can't imagine she's as frail as her form looks," Izuku said. "You have a point," Dex agreed.

"On the other hand, though... Yowza." Fortunately for Izuku, at that point they reached the stage and even Dex wasn't dumb enough to keep chatting about their coach's breasts with her in human earshot. At least, he hoped Dex wasn't that dumb.

Once all the students were together, Coach Kan stepped forward and addressed them. "Good morning, new meat," he said with a grin that was far more believable than the one the dean still had shellacked onto his face. "To the upper classman I'm a professor, but you haven't earned that right yet, so to you my name is Coach Kan, and by the end of the year you are going to curse me, my mother for birthing me, and God for allowing me to exist. I am going to work every last one of you down to the bone. I am going to break you apart until you have no concept of what you can or can't do, because I want each of you to end this year doing things you never thought possible. You will all hate me for the rest of your life, but if you are very skilled and very lucky, you will live long enough to come back here and thank me one day. You will thank me for making you strong enough to survive."

Coach Kan stepped back, and Coach Kayama stepped forward. "First off, yes, eyes up at my face, gentlemen. Secondly, I'm going to be training you as well, though while my brutish counterpart will be teaching your bodies how to endure combat, I will be educating your minds. You will use your powers in new ways you never would have imagined before, and you will do it because the only options I am going to hand you are to find a way or suffer bodily harm. You should know that Coach Kan and I are the harshest instructors in this academy, because we have to be. This is where you are torn down and built up correctly with the building blocks that will enable you to survive the years to follow. If we do not think you can survive, we will fail you. So work hard and learn fast, or you'll wash out and be no better than Quirkless."

The students winced visibly at that, the idea of being compared to Quirkless kicking them into gear and setting their determination not to wash out firmly into place. Which, of course, was exactly what Coach Kayama had been aiming for.

"All right," said Dean Blaine. "So, before we pair off for the first round of combat, does anyone have any questions so far?" No hands came up, so Dean Blaine continued. "Fantastic; then I want the girls to go to Coach Kayama and the boys to go to Coach Kan so they can pair you up."

"Isn't that sexist?" The question came from a girl near the front of the crowd with dirty blonde hair. Izuku looked at her, and realized with pleasant surprise that the girl with the orange side ponytail hair from the dining hall yesterday was standing next to the question asker. "And what is your name, miss?" Dean Blaine asked in response.

"Julia," the girl replied. "Let me guess, Julia; you're a women's studies major, right?" Dean Blaine asked. "Um... yes," Julia replied. "There's always one," Dean Blaine said with a sigh. "We go over this every year, so I'll tell you the same thing, Julia. The point of this test is to get an idea of how you fight against an opponent when you are at relatively equal footing. Both you and your opponent will have an ability, so the only other difference is your physique, and sadly, boys are usually stronger than girls. This means that getting an accurate assessment requires us to pair you with people who have similar body types. If it makes you feel better, though, this is only the case for freshman year. Once you become sophomores and have been trained by Kan here, we'll be setting you against anyone, regardless of sex."

"I guess that makes sense," Julia conceded. "Great," Dean Blaine said. "Okay, everyone, now report to your respective coach and get ready for a good old-fashioned tussle."


	5. Chapter 5

Izuku was impressed at the combat cells that UA possessed. Seventy feet by seventy feet in size, they were made of reinforced concrete that was several inches thick, with five-inch plastic serving as a window and a triple-locked door the only entrance and exit. What was truly amazing, though, was that there were so many of them.

Right now, each member of the freshman class was standing in a cell just like Izuku's, staring across at some other student who they would soon be facing off against. In his case, the boy who had entered was a few inches taller, and a muscular build, the boy was alarmingly familiar making Izuku shudder at what was to top his head was a wild mane of sandy blonde hair , drawing more attention to his striking face and sharp red eyes. The only other person near them was a girl wearing a white uniform, staring down at them through the glass.

She was one of the senior class, doing her duty of watching over the new recruits to make sure no one was killed. Serious injury wasn't a concern since there were healers on hand, but no one could bring back the dead. At least, no one employed by UA. Izuku and his opponent were both wearing black uniforms of a style similar to the girl watching them. It seemed the hierarchy at UA was that freshmen wore black uniforms, sophomores and juniors wore grey, and the few seniors that managed to stay in class were issued white uniforms.

This supposedly represented the students growing closer to the goodness and purity that all Heroes were meant to represent. Izuku thought it was just that there was more training and fighting in the lower years and black didn't stain as easily, but he kept that particular theory to himself. "Introduce yourselves," came a female voice from a speaker hidden somewhere in the concrete around them. It took Izuku a moment, but he realized it had come from his overseer. Apparently there was some sort of intercom system set up for the rooms. It made sense; how else was someone going to talk to them through solid walls? "My name is Katsuki bakugo," said Izuku's opponent, a wild and confident smile smearing across his face.

"Medoriya Izuku," said Izuku.

"what the fuck.. Deku?," Bakugo sneered finally recognizing him. "Is this some kind of joke! I thought UA was the best but they let quirkless trash like you in here" he yelled

"I'm not quirkless... Kacchan," Izuku mumbled seeing there would be no civil conversation with his old friend/bully. Bakugo growled. "Don't call me that deku!" Izuku said nothing, merely kept sweeping his eyes over Bakugo, he had a idea of how the boy would be starting things off, it looked as if bakugo had become more aggressive in his time gone.

He didn't have to wait long. "Begin," said the same, crackling intercom voice. Izuku resisted the urge to look around for the speaker again and that discipline was all that saved him. Before the word was even done being spoken, Bakugo had reared his right arm back and sending out a explosion propelling him in Izuku's direction. Granted, since there was forty feet between the two of them, it gave Izuku enough time to move. Izuku leapt to the side.

A flash of red light roared past, striking the wall where he had been standing only moments before, burning the edges of his hair . A quick peek back showed Izuku that Bakugo was right next to him and coming at him with a wild right hook.

Moving quickly Izuku stepped into bakugo's attack, grabbing the arm at the elbow he pivoted his hip and throw his opponent over his shoulder, slamming bakugo into the floor. Knowing who he was fighting Izuku instantly retreated Bakugo was not someone you pressed the attack against.

Bakugo blinked from his spot on the floor, deku had flipped him, he had read his attack and countered. With a animalistic yell bakugo let loose two medium explosions before standing back up.

Wide eyed Izuku didn't respond; instead he took off running. Bakugo was extremely unpredictable, but right now he was still twenty feet away. Izuku was quick on his feet, and more importantly he had a lot of practice at running away, so he was able to stay out the way every time bakugo tried to close the gap.

Bakugo was no slouch though; he began looking to where Izuku was running and was following close behind releasing more explosions towards izuku. More than once Izuku was only saved by a quick roll to the side or a slide underneath. The only upside was that the more Bakugo fired, the more Izuku began to get his timing down.

Bakugo needed to take a deep breath between every two punches, though whether it was part of his fighting style or just a necessary moment to recharge Izuku was unsure, it wasn't something that he used to do. The good thing was that every time he took that breath, Izuku had a moment to pause and see where Bakugo's eyes were aiming. The only real chance Izuku had was to wear Bakugo down slowly until his endurance was thin.

Using powers still require him to use physical actions and with how much bakugo was moving, if Izuku could get Bakugo gasping for air then he might have a chance at getting close to him.

"what the hell are you doing Deku! Stop fucking running away, you're wasting my time!" bakugo yelled shooting off a few more explosions in his direction

Izuku said nothing, conserving his air for movement, not talking. "If this is all you can do then you should just give up," Bakugo demanded.

"I already know you are a weak quirkless. That doesn't mean you should jump around and waste my time when I could be going against a real opponent." To punctuate his words,Bakugo let loose another explosion, this one larger then all his previous ones, he was losing patients fast.

Izuku rolled away from the explosion burning his arm in the process but when he came up from his roll bakugo was already there, wicked grin and hands aimed and glowing.

"you are wrong Kacchan,I'm not weak or quirkless"Izuku stood staring down his old childhood friend "I've been taking the defensive. It was the smart move until I understood your tactics. Let me assure of one thing right now, though." Izuku slowly, deliberately wiped away the blood from his mouth with the back of his fist. "I know how to fight.


	6. Chapter 6

"Gaaaaah!" Izuku cried as he was knocked back across the field, his small body rolling in the grass before coming to a stop. "How many times do I have to tell you? Learn their timing and adjust your own to fit into their defensive gaps. Most people fight with patterns and that's all they know. If you can flow through those patterns, they won't even be able to see how you're hitting them, let alone find a way to block you," said a tall,Blonde malnourished man in a tattered red coat. "Sorry... Sensei," Izuku squeezed out as he gasped for air. His sensei's last punch had knocked the breath out of him.

He was used to it, though, and would recover quickly. Sensei didn't hold back when teaching him how to fight, because no one Izuku ever went up against would be holding back either. "You're getting better, my boy," Sensei encouraged. "You landed two punches onto my arms that time before you fell into your own rhythm." Izuku managed to pull himself to his feet.

Small and slight at ten years old and wearing ragged clothing, the only thing remarkable about the boy standing in the field was his bushy green hair. That, and the look of determination screaming out his soft green eyes. "How do I keep from falling into my rhythm?" Izuku asked. "Simple," Sensei replied. "Don't have one."

"I don't know how," Izuku admitted. Sensei never chastised him for admitting ignorance, saying it was the only way for Izuku to find his weak spots and grow stronger. "It's not something that's easy," Sensei explained. "You have to be able to adapt to your opponent's style, to work in a way that is the most detrimental to them. The only way to achieve it is through proper training and a variety of skilled opponents. However, you have a slight advantage in this area."

"What's that?" Izuku asked curiously. "You're quirkless right now. You are not hardwired to fight a certain way to fit a quirk; that means that your core is a blank slate," Sensei said.

"So I have faith you'll be able to learn how to fight without a form." Sensei smiled encouragingly "Now, the train will be pulling out in two hours, so if want to jump on a car we only have an hour and a half left. Do you want to spend it whining, or do you want to spend it training?" Izuku took a deep breath, making sure he had fully recovered from the blow to his stomach and losing his wind. He hadn't, but it was good enough for the moment. "Training," Izuku said with a grin

* * *

Eight years later found Izuku pushing bakugos arm to the side seconds before the explosions went knew Bakugo's pattern and knew that any explosions attack would have to be concluded in a two-punch combo. More than that and Bakugo needed a breath.

Izuku also knew that while Bakugo's style so far had been long range, the way he held himself and threw his blasts were indicative of someone comfortable with close range fighting. Bakugo definitely had training, and from the way he had been attacking, Izuku was betting it was in boxing.

Izuku sidestepped a blast as he circled, Putting himself in Bakugo's blind spot. It was harder to dodge this close, but he'd learned to dodge boxing blows at close combat range; there was no way a punch with a lag time was going to hit him. The problem would be that once Bakugo adapted, he wouldn't be able to take a single one of Bakugo's punches or this match would be all over. Normally he could just count on his practice taking blows to let him work through the pain, but getting blown up wasn't something you could grit your teeth and push through.

Taking a breath every cohesive thought was gone from his mind. All he saw was his opponent's movements, feeling the pattern that Bakugo wove to take down his prey. Izuku flowed around Bakugo, using footwork to keep him from being able to get off a clean shot. At the same time Izuku began lightly throwing his own punches. Mere taps at first, easy to recover from for both parties. Izuku wasn't trying to do damage: he was trying to see how Bakugo blocked. The more soft blows Bakugo avoided, the surer Izuku was that Bakugo's training was in boxing, which told Izuku exactly how to take him off guard. Izuku slid to Bakugo's side and threw a left directly at Bakugo's face.

Bakugo blocked it immediately, rearing back his own left to deliver an exploding punch to Izuku's face. He never got the chance, though, as Izuku followed the momentum of the punch through with a hard knee to Bakugo's ribs. Without stopping, Izuku used the force to push himself around to Bakugo's back, out of range of his exploding fists, and deliver a right-handed blow to same spot on the ribs he had struck with his knee.

Izuku was preparing to let fly a punch to the back of Bakugo's head when the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded. Izuku jumped back quickly, getting on to a safe distance at the sacrifice of his position behind Bakugo. This had obviously been Bakugo's plan - he must have punched the ground to mess with Izuku's footing - but Izuku had no other option besides playing into it. "I can't believe it," Bakugo sneered.

"All that fucking running and it turns out you have some decent skills. But you must think I'm some kind of a joke, as if I'd lose to a quirkless extra like you deku." Izuku noticed Bakugo was talking but not punching. Maybe he was foggy from the blows, but Izuku doubted it. More likely he had either realized he couldn't hit Izuku at this range, or he was trying to bait Izuku by riling him up into letting his guard down.

Bakugo stared at Izuku his eyes were hard. Izuku had embarrassed him, and it was very clear Bakugo did not take kindly to that. "You got in some good shots, Deku, but that its time for you to die."

"You did better then I expected for being as weak as you are," Bakugo goaded. "But I want you to see what a real warrior looks like. I'm going to be the number one ranked in this class, because no one is as powerful as me!" Bakugo tilted back his head and laughed, unconcerned about his worthless opponent.

The moment Bakugo's head was back, Izuku began charging forward. He'd made it halfway there when Bakugo noticed his headlong sprint. "You think this is for show? Bakugo asked, taking his stance once again as Izuku drew closer.

Izuku never slowed down for an instant, running right up to Bakugo and stopping on his left foot, letting the speed carry his right forward into a powerful side kick. Bakugo moved to block it, but the foot drew back a few inches before it would have struck his arm. Izuku kept spinning, though, pulling off a complete three-sixty before planting his right down and launching forward on it. Bakugo realized that Izuku was still carrying most the momentum from the run in his body, and that he was cocked back to throw a punch right at Bakugo's face. He was instently blown back by and explosion.

"It's over Deku" he said as he lifted a glowing hand.

Izuku stared with wide eyes before looking down, there was no other way. His arm began to glow and the sleeve on his uniform shredded from the building power, he charged one last time.

"Die!" Bakugo yelled letting the explosion engulf the green haired boy, but before anyone could think to call the match all the smoke from the explosion shoot up into the air along with a huge gust of wind

Bakugo was blown back skidding across the floor "what the fuck" he looked up.

Standing alone with a badly burned arm in a block position his other arm set in a upper cut was misshapen and broken, Izuku's eyes were wide and unfocused from the pain, he couldn't bring himself to hit bakugo so he aimed in front of the other boy.

Standing back up Bakugo glared at Izuku "What the fuck! I thought you were quirkless" Izuku didn't say anything before the world went black.

* * *

Thank you for reading this far Comments are always welcomed please tell me if you enjoyed the story so far or not.


	7. Chapter 7

Izuku woke up an hour or so later in the healing clinic. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the lighting and stretched slowly to banish the discomfort that had accumulated in his back from sleeping on the hard bed.

"Oh thank god, you're finally awake," said a female voice to his right.

Izuku pulled himself up to a sitting position and looked over. Resting on an identical bed was a tall girl wearing a black uniform similar to his. She had the lean, firm look of a martial artist and held herself, even while sitting, with a sense of poise and control. The most striking feature about her, though, was the orange hair with side ponytail.

"Was I out long?" Izuku asked.

"Given that you were pretty much a mangled husk when they brought you in, no, I'd say you slept an appropriate amount," the girl replied as she smirked.

"huh?" Izuku said. "I seem to have recovered pretty nicely."

"Extra strength healing. It'll do the trick," the girl quipped. "I guess sleep is part of it, too, but damn it was boring having no one to talk to."

"Sorry about that," Izuku rubbed his head and apologized without being sure why. "Why are you hanging around here, though? Didn't they heal you already?"

"Yeah," the girl said. "But they told me I had to rest in here until this afternoon at least."

"Why?" Izuku asked.

"Some bullshit about a bunch broken bones in my hands needing to rest for a few hours even with healing," the girl explained. "I'm Itsuka, by the way. And before you say anything, I know it's kinda a old woman name, so keep the jokes to a minimum."

"I wouldn't have dreamed of it," Izuku lied. "My name is Izuku. How'd you break your hands?"

"I lost my fight," Itsuka replied with a shrug.

"Well, that does make a certain amount of sense," Izuku said agreeably.

"What type of ability were you fighting?"

"Some chick that could jump really high,I missed her and hit the wall" Itsuka said.

Izuku let out a low whistle. "That's a good one."

"Yup, especially when she waited until I was charging her at full speed to do her little jump. Punching a steel wall... yeah, it kind of sucks," Itsuka said. "So, how about you? I know you were fighting someone that could burn, but what do you do? And while we're not on the subject, but I'm still going to ask anyway, who does your hair?"

"I can channel energy into my limbs, like then I can hit stuff really hard. As for the hair, my genetics are my stylist," Izuku said.

"Sweet ass," Itsuka said. "So if you can pack a mean punch then it must have been one hell of a fight with you and hothead."

"Um, sort of," Izuku said awkwardly with a blush. "I kind of forgot that there would fighting coming in today, so I was caught more off guard than I would have liked."

"Hey, no need for excuses. We're both losers here," Itsuka said.

"So, are they going to tell us when everyone is done fighting, or do we just rest until we feel like we should go?"

"Oh, you're free to go anytime," Itsuka told him. "If you hurry you might still catch the last of the boys' matches."

"What about the girls?" Izuku asked.

"Those wrapped up, like, half an hour ago. My roommate already texted me some of the rankings," Itsuka said.

"How'd you do?" Izuku asked

"Nineteen out of twenty-two," Itsuka said glumly. "That jumping bitch took me down in the first round. Even Julia did better than me."

"That sucks," Izuku said. "Is Julia your roommate?"

"Yeah, and number fourteen in the ranking," Itsuka said. "She made it to the second round, but then she got put down hard. They couldn't really dock her too many points for it, though. I mean, the chick who beat her did wind up ranked number one for the girls."

"Who was that?" Izuku asked out of curiosity.

"I haven't met her yet," Itsuka said. "But Julia told me it was some girl with vines, whatever that means, named Ibara."

* * *

"You're sure it's okay for you to be walking?" Izuku asked as they made their way down the steel and concrete hall.

"No, but I think they were mainly worried about me using my quirk, not going to the main hall to check the results," Itsuka replied. Julia had texted her that the boys' fights were finished, but rather than getting the results from her roommate, Itsuka had cajoled Izuku into seeing for himself.

"Well... okay," Izuku said reluctantly. "Just let me know if you need to lean on me or something."

"I bet you say that to all the mending girls with," Itsuka said.

"what?! n..no," Vince blushed hotly.

"Calm down man, I'm just messing." Itsuka might have continued teasing him, but at that point they stepped out of the tunnel and into the main hall. It was really more of an entrance foyer than anything else.

Conveyor systems that ran to the respective dorms were on one side, while an enormous screen was perched overhead on the opposite end of the room. There were various hallways like the one Izuku and Itsuka were emerging from branching off, and at the moment there was a tremendous cluster of black uniformed freshmen under the screen, looking eagerly for their name in the listings.

The screen was split into two sections currently, boys' list and girls' list.

Most of the attention was geared towards the boys' listings, but in fairness, the girls

had been finished for at least an hour or so. Izuku and Itsuka made their way into the

rabble of freshman and began their short search of the boys' list. It took Izuku a few minutes to find his name, not because the list was enormous or complicated, but because he was looking in the wrong part of it. When he couldn't find himself in the bottom section, he finally looked to the higher rankings, though he was utterly unprepared for what awaited him there.

"Eighth?!" Izuku exclaimed. "How am I eighth? There are, like, thirty

guys and I went down in the first round. Was there a mistake?"

"It isn't just about how many fights you were in," Itsuka said soothingly.

"They were also evaluating how you used your abilities against the ones you were fighting, how you dealt with their techniques, and how well you thought on your feet. If you were fighting a really lopsided battle and still managed to show solid skills then that was factored in."

"Yeah but still... eighth?" Izuku sighed and tried to relax. It was a good thing; a high ranking was something he should be proud of. He's been a quirkless until

A few years ago and here he'd managed to show up twenty-two others by outdoing them. It was an accomplishment. Izuku just wished it was one he felt as though he had earned.

"Didn't you say the guy you fought was named Bakugo?" Itsuka asked.

"Yeah."

"Looks like he made it to number three," Itsuka said, pointing up at the list.

Izuku checked for himself and sure enough she was right. Bakugo Katsuki was the third strongest male there, below the number one slot,Todoroki Shoto, and the number two slot,

Tokoyami Fumikage . Izuku was about to look away when the name in the number five slot caught his eye.

"Shinso Hitoshi"Izuku looked surprised

* * *

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or characters you want you see!


	8. Chapter 8

"According to Julia, the sexiest man she's seen in years," Itsuka said. "She keeps texting my ass about how he's so dark and mysterious . Also he's number five."

"I see that, I'm not surprised he made it so far, but I am wondering who could have beat him" Izuku said mumbling a bit at the end "Is he that strong?" Itsuka asked "I mean there are some real power houses this year"

"he's one of my roommates, his quirk is really powerful. Its called brainwash" Izuku explained looking over the names for his final roommate. Itsuka shrugged "that's kind of a dark quirk but I can see how he made it so far with it"

"it's not dark, its a perfect quirk for a hero" Izuku told her before giving up on finding Dex's name. Itsuka agreed quickly. "Well, whatever; just tell him he's caught the eye of my roommate when you get back to your dorm"

"I'll have to," Izuku said. "Especially since none of my fellow Melbrook residents seem to have hung out after they saw their ranks."

"No worries, I bet they lick their wounds in time for Casino Night," Itsuka said optimistically.

"Casino Night?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, there are flyers up all over the dorms," Itsuka said.

"Must have missed them," Izuku said, doing his best to hide his embarrassment from not noticing "It's in the student union tonight at seven," Itsuka explained. "Free food, fake gambling with free chips that you can use for raffles, and all the karaoke you can handle. Both HCP students and general ed are invited."

"That sort of sounds like fun," Izuku said.

"Yeah, we can meet more fellow freshman. Maybe we'll even make a friend or two that we don't have to worry about fighting," Itsuka said.

"Very true," Izuku agreed shyly. "I don't really know anyone here except my dorm mates. Oh, and now you, too."

"Same boat," Itsuka said. "I met Julia because she's my roommate, but you're the only other friend I've made so far. Combat doesn't really engender communal feelings on the first day."

"Maybe that's why they do it," Izuku speculated.

"Point," Itsuka said. "Well, I'm going to head back up to the dorm. Seven is only a few hours away and I am desperate for a shower. You think you'll go to the Casino Night?"

"Yeah."

"Sweet," Itsuka said, pulling out the "e" sound a bit. "Want to meet up at the entrance and then lose all our fake money together?"

"Absolutely," Izuku said. "I'll see if I can talk any of my dorm mates into coming along."

* * *

Dex was already seated comfortably at a blackjack table when he noticed Izuku

and some orange haired girl walk into the garishly decorated student union. They had obviously been trying for an over-the-top Takarazuka style décor with the gold banners and fake statues, but what the decorator had failed to realize was that Takarazuka brilliance was in the subtlety beneath the glamour.

Dex took no offense to it, though; that was the signature appeal of his home town. Often imitated, never duplicated.

Dex was grateful that Izuku had told him about the event at any rate. Throwing

his first fight to stay off anyone's radar had left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

Tactics and stealth were all well and good, but there was something so viscerally wrong about losing in any way. It had been necessary, though, and as Dex pulled in a few more additions to his pile of chips he felt the sourness ease from his taste buds.

It didn't matter that the chips were worthless: it only mattered that Dex was winning.

"Hit," said a female voice next to him. Dex had been seated and working up a

hot streak when Ibarai had plunked herself down next to him. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't want a noob so close to him, either. He had waffled for a few moments then let it be. The girl could follow him even if he did get up; besides, he had to get to know his dorm mate sooner or later. Better to stay put and keep up appearances of friendliness toward his dorm mates.

"Good play," Dex complimented her as a ten was laid onto her queen, giving her twenty.

"I've always wanted to say that," Ibarai replied without looking at him. He could hear the slight excitement in her voice

"I'm sure I could give you a few pointers" Dex smiled, turning his attention back to the game. He was almost immediately interrupted again.

"Whoa," Izuku said as he came up to the table. "That's quite a stack you've acuminated."

"Well, I am from Takarazuka, after all," Dex said.

"And eighteen," Izuku countered. "So you couldn't have hit the casinos. How'd you get so good at blackjack?"

"Chill, Vince, it's a game of luck," the orange haired girl interrupted. "Yeah," Vince said as his eyes narrowed. "You're right, Itsuka."

"So it's Itsuka? I'm Dex and this is Ibarai. We're both in Melbrook with Izuku. I do apologize for my good friend's poor manners in not introducing us," Dex said, switching into his usual affable mode and swinging the focus away from his blackjack success.

"Nice to meet you two," Itsuka said, giving a slight incline of her head.

"Itsuka, would you mind grabbing us a seat at the craps table? I know we wanted to roll some dice, I just need to have a quick word with my dorm mate," Izuku said a bit flustered'

Itsuka looked at the two of them for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Okay." She wandered off towards the craps, but not without keeping an eye on them. That girl was sharper than she wanted to let on. Dex could respect that.

"Dex," Vince whispered harshly as soon as Itsuka was gone. "Do you really think it's a good idea to be doing... what you're doing out in the open like this?"

"You mean winning?" Dex asked innocently.

"I mean using an unfair advantage."

"Hold your horses there, hoss," Dex said in equally low tones. "First off, this isn't even real money, so stay off the soapbox. Secondly, I'm not doing what you think I'm doing. I'm winning because I know how to play blackjack well, its a game of luck so there is no way I can cheat. There are just some basic strategies any kid who grew up around a city of gambling knows. So re-fucking-lax and go worry about your date instead of your dorm mate."

"It isn't a date," Izuku flushed immediately. "And... I'm sorry. You're right. I guess I was just worried because... well, the whole secret being a big portion of your grade thing. You really haven't been using?"

"Ask Ibarai," Dex replied. "See if I've focused or seemed like I was spacing out"

Izuku looked at Ibarai, who didn't turn toward him but shook her head to the

negative anyway she was focused on the dealer. "Sorry," Izuku said once more. "I guess that whole speech and a day of fighting has gotten me paranoid."

"Don't worry about it," Dex assured him. "If I were you I'd think the same thing. Now go catch up to your girl before someone else does."

"She's not my girl," Izuku said blushing, but he departed from their table and made his way over to Itsuka and the craps game. Dex turned back to the blackjack table, annoyed that he had missed several hands while talking to Izuku and had now lost track of the cards.

"You don't really need to focus that much to use your talent do you," Ibarai said softly.

"Maybe, maybe not," Dex defended. "I mean, I'm really not doing

anything."

"You don't consider counting cards doing anything?" Ibarai asked.

"Fine; I'm not doing anything that others couldn't do with skill and practice. Besides, for all you know, I do need to shut my eyes to use my talent. Maybe that's why I wear the sunglasses"

"Is it" Ibarai asked still not looking away "maybe, maybe not" Dex just grinned as he slid several chips out to place a bet. "you aren't going to give me a clear awnser are you?" Ibarai asked as she followed suit and put her own chips into play.

The dealer put two cards in front of each of them, so they each paused to do a quick spot of mental math.

"nope" Dex said popping the p "Why are you being so friendly" he asked as he rapped knuckles against the green velvet and the dealer handed him another card.

An almost instantaneous calculation flew through his head and he waved off to show he was staying.

"It's supposed to let you know where I stand," Ibarai replied, tapping her own

hand as well. She went for another hit after the first then elected to stay.

"And where is that?" Dex asked as the dealer began hitting his own stack,

stopping once he struck eighteen.

"As your friend," Ibarai replied. "Someone you can talk to and trust. The church trains us not to judge"

"Table has eighteen," the deal announced. The girl to Dex's right had already

busted, so Dex was first to be compared to the dealer's numbers.

"Nineteen," Dex announced. To Ibarai, he resumed his whispering tone. "You'll forgive me if I'm a bit reluctant to take you up on that. I've got trust issues."

"No problem," Ibarai whispered back. "Twenty," she announced happily, smiling at all of the other players at the table. Both of them pulled in the chips they had won and pushed a few more out for the next round.

"I'm just saying," Ibarai resumed in her soft tones. "You don't have to seek forgiveness in the lord but you can still find a sympathetic ear in his children"

Dex couldn't think of a snappy comeback for this one she was being too nice, so instead he just checked his cards. Ibarai may be right but he didn't want her to know that.


	9. Chapter 9

Momo was honestly bored. She had come to the casino night with her dorm save Hitoshi, no one had seen him since the beginning of the day. Truth is she had little taste for gambling, it lacked a certain grace to it, though that maybe because the games Momo loved were more strategic.

She had seen Izuku walking with a orange haired girl and didn't want to intrude on the shy boys date, as for Dex and Ibarai their table was full. Momo was feeling a little lonely and the thought of how she did in the battle trails earlier that day left a sour taste in her mouth. The only thing that made her feel a little better was the fact that Dex had done worse than her. She shook her head, it was wrong to get joy from someone else shortcomings.

Momo tried to smile and keep her facade plastered up by focusing on the positive. It wasn't as if she had really expected to fare well in the combat trials in the first place. She could create anything but that took time, while a significant majority of the girls here had abilities that were far more fighting-based. Still, she had been downed in her first round in less than a minute by some girl with sonic blasting powers.

It had hurt, and despite all the preparation she had given herself to brace for the inevitable loss, Momo had found that once the match was done, her pride was stinging a bit as well. It certainly hadn't helped matters when she learned Ibarai had come out as top of the class.

Still, Momo was an academic at heart, and being a Hero wasn't just about how many cars you could throw in a minute. It was also about wit, resourcefulness, and intelligence, all of which Momo was confident she could use to elevate her own status. Eventually.

Momo based by when she heard Izuku and Itsuka making plans to meet for breakfast the next morning before heading off to class, it was mostly Itsuka talking and Izuku nodding with a blush. They would all be spending their mornings attending their above ground classes, but the afternoon would find them all down in the secret levels, training up on the things that really mattered.

Izuku and Itsuka both seemed excited about what the next day would hold, which told Momo that they knew nothing of what was actually in store. She did, and she thought to warn them but figured it would be rude to but in after eavesdropping. Momo left the two to their slowly-blooming, obvious romance and wandered across the room to find some entertainment of her own.

Momo trudged across the room, passing by the happy faces while wearing one of her own. Eventually she found herself at the only part of the Student Union that allowed for seating without participation: the karaoke stage.

Some blonde girl Momo recognized from the program was wailing her way through a pop song as she gently plunked down in the back. Ignoring the warbling, Momo pulled out her phone and began checking her e-mail. It was bad form to appear so antisocial in a public place, but she needed a moment to gather her thoughts and get into the right frame of mind.

A few minutes by herself would be a relatively small concession for being able to mingle and socialize the rest of the night.

Momo was so caught up in actively ignoring the poor blonde on stage that she didn't even notice when the song ended. She didn't notice the mild applause or the announcement of the next song either. What she, along with everyone else in range of the speakers, did notice was what followed. A husky male voice vibrated across the room, breaking into the deep opening chords of a country song.

Momo didn't listen to soulful song, and for the life of her couldn't have told you what the song was. At that moment, though, she couldn't hear anything else in the room. Shoving the phone hastily back into her pocket, Momo turned all of her attention to the boy who had pulled a stool on stage and was seated on it as he crooned into the microphone.

He wasn't all that tall maybe a head under her, wearing a purple button up and a pair of worn jeans with a familiar head of purple hair with eyes that looked like they would permanently close for the night. Hitoshi was up there singing with such a deep and powerful voice it had taken her aback'

Momo's eyes danced around the crowd, noting their reactions to the clear improvement in entertainment. A large chunk of the women in the karaoke's audience were staring at this Hitoshi with unabashed interest, the most fervent being the blonde who had sung before him. Many of the men were trying to seem unimpressed by him and his performance, though a few who must have recognized the song were happily enjoying his rendition.

As he sang, the man's own purple eyes swept the crowd, lingering ever-so-intentionally on the women eagerly looking up at him. They came to rest on his blonde predecessor, who looked as though she was applying all her self-control toward not letting out a squeal.

The song finished, and Hitoshi stood from his stool and took a simple bow. There was blatantly more applause that there had been for the girl, yet as the he walked down from the small platform that was serving as a stage and nodded his head at the blonde as way of introduction, it seemed like she neither noticed nor cared.

For her part, Momo felt a bit better. Watching her aloof dorm mate sing had really caught her off guard, but it had also pulled her mind out of its funk and forced her to focus on something else for a while. Settling back in, she felt her problems were somewhat less pressing than they had been before, as is usually the case, and decided she would take a cue from the singing boy. This was an event to meet people and make connections: in other words, a social activity. That made Momo feel more at home. She might not be able to beat everyone in combat, but there were few who was raised to be the perfect heiress .

Momo rose from her seat and set off.

* * *

Izuku had some trouble finding Hughes Hall the next morning. In his defense, UA was a very large campus, and he had hardly had free time to explore it. He might have gotten up a bit earlier if he had been thinking ahead, but Casino Night had gone on a lot longer than he expected, and it turned out being healed from a explosion had left him drained by the day's end.

On the plus side, he had won enough chips to put his name in a few raffles. He had even managed to win a clock radio. It wasn't quite as nice as the two hundred dollar gift card Dex had won, but it was something to be happy about.

Izuku had to wonder,if Dex somehow managed to rig the raffle, but given the amount of chips his sunglasses-wearing friend had turned in, it didn't really surprise anyone when Dex's name was drawn. That boy was either cheating up a storm or really knew how to play blackjack.

Since he was one of Izuku's few friends, Izuku was opting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Had Izuku known a bit more in the ways of gambling, it might have dawned on him that the two options were not mutually exclusive.

Izuku was in a good mood, even as he scrambled to find Isuka's dormitory. It was his second day attending UA and the first day of real classes. He had basic math and literature classes in the morning, followed by gym and Ethics of Heroism in the afternoon.

He still wasn't sure why gym was ascribed a three-hour chunk of his time every day, but he assumed there would be a logical explanation when he got there.

Besides, he and Itsuka were getting breakfast before their morning classes together, which made him just a bit happier than he would admit to anyone who was asking though the blush on his face was a dead giveaway.

Izuku had been polite enough to invite his fellow dorm mates to come along. Dex had said no due to an early class, Ibarai had politely declined without explanation, and Momo had informed him that she would be cooking her own food, something about finally being Independence, Izuku had looked for Hitoshi as well, but to no avail. It seemed their friend hadn't even come home last night. Izuku was beginning to get worried, but he was trying to hope for the best.

If he didn't see his tired dorm mate soon, though, Izuku was planning on finding Mr. Numbers or Mr. Transport.

Seeing the bell tower and finally getting a sense of where he was. With its lush foliage, sprawling campus, and large buildings, UA was one of the largest and most scenic colleges in Tokyo. All of which sounded great on the brochure, but was somewhat less charming when trying to hustle between locations across campus. Izuku was really hoping he didn't have any classes that were too far apart when he finally saw a sign on a multistoried building that read "Hughes."

He walked into the lobby quickly, checking the wall clock and realizing with nervousness that he was late. It wasn't by much, but it was enough to irk him. He had been taught that punctuality was one of the most important virtues to have. He made his way through the white-tiled entryway and past the door leading into the dorm area itself.

Some of the dorms were segregated into male and female, his own being one of them, but Hughes had alternating floors. The rooms were done in suites, with two rooms sharing a common living room area. It engendered a sense of community, or so Itsuka had told him, since people could leave their living room doors open and still preserve a getaway in their bedroom. It occurred to Izuku that whoever had built Melbrook for him and the others had clearly taken some cues from the Hughes dormitory set up.

In fact, Izuku was right. Momo had toured the UA campus (along with several others) before talking with the architects who would ultimately design Melbrook. She had found the Hughes design an excellent integration of privacy and community, though her original designs had her room set off in a separate area. Specifically, it was in an entirely separate building on the opposite campus and with the regular students. That attempt had failed, but she'd considered it something of a long shot anyway.

Izuku bounded up the stairs to the second floor and began moving down the hallway. Since the rooms were arranged sequentially, it didn't take him much time at all to find Itsuka's room: 216. He was about to knock when he saw that the door was already cracked. There were several voices, at least two female with one probably male.

Izuku was still standing there, debating on whether he should knock or wait a bit before pushing the door open, then he heard an object land heavily against the floor. All thoughts of tact aside, Izuku pushed the door open, and looked into the room.

"is everything alright?" he asked before he could take in the scene around him. As the sights the room held registered into his mind one by one, it became clear that things were starting to escalate.

There were two girls and a boy here, all right. The most attention-grabbing one was the blonde that Itsuka had pointed out as her roommate yesterday, Julia, who was a few steps outside of her bedroom and into the living room. She was pointing an accusing finger.

If Izuku had bothered to look down he would have noticed a knocked over lamp by his feet, the obvious culprit in the case of the mysterious thudding noise. Julia was wearing a sizable button up shirt, though with her arm up and pulling the fabric up, it was evident that the shirt wasn't quite sizable enough.

Standing on the other side of the room Isuka was glaring back Julia not paying the other guy any attention, Isuka wearing nothing but a tight pink shirt and grey sleep shorts. Izuku was mesmerized by the image before his face broke into a hot blush and he tried to cover his eyes. Until his attention was captured somewhat by the other male in the room.

He was a tall guy, wrapped in a towel, and was leaning on the wall with a strange smile. He was clearly enjoying the argument, but from the look on Julia's face, Izuku had a feeling the boy was the cause of the argument .

Izuku blinked several times face still red, At least he found Hitoshi.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Julia screeched at Izuku.

"Um, I'm Izuku," he stuttered lamely. "Itsuka and I were meeting to go get breakfast."

Hitoshi stared over at Izuku with his tired eyes "you have the worst timing" he said simple standing from his spot on the wall.

"Why are you in a blanket?" Izuku asked.

"Why do you know this guy?" Itsuka glared

Izuku just nodded "Good, get him out of my dorm so I can finish explaining to my dorm mate why its rude to keep some up all night with all that noise" Itsuka spun back on Julia

Hitoshi just snorted as Julia's face went red "you didn't have to stay up to listen!"

"Bitch you and zombie boy over there most likely kept the whole hall awake!"

Izuku just blinked "Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" he tossed out, hoping to get some sense of what was happening around him.

"Apparently me and Julia was too loud and her dorm mate is grouchy because she didn't get lucky last night. Hitoshi explained helpfully

"It's rude! I come out this morning sleep deprived just to see that" Itsuka pointed "sitting half naked in my kitchen! This is a girls dorm room, what if I was indecent" she turned the question on Julia

"If you ask me both of you are dressed to impress" Hitoshi said bluntly drawing attention to both girls current outfits. Both looked down and blushed but Julia just gave Hitoshi a sultry smile, Itsuka looked at what she was wearing. For the first time all morning she became all too aware of just how well her shorts lived up to their name, and the fact that her tight pink shirt wasn't being hampered by the presence of a bra.

"I'll be ready in a minute Izuku!" she called out

Izuku just stood there a frozen blushing mess "well seeing how you have a date I think you should wait outside" Hitoshi said walking towards Julia "why don't we clean up, seeing how your dorm mate is leaving" Hitoshi gave her a smirk that made Julia's knees weak, placing a hand on her back and guiding her into the other room. "I'll see you Izuku" with that the door closed and Izuku was standing alone in the living room. "umm" he didn't know what to do.

Itsuka stepped out not long afterwards dressed and ready to go, seeing Izuku just standing around looking awkward made her laugh. "Where'd the other two go?" she asked before she began to hear voices coming from the bathroom "Ugg that girl!" Itsuka groaned

"wait, he only went in there with Juila, why are there more voices" Izuku asked he was still blushing but his love of quirks was overriding his embarrassment

"Oh, thats just Julia's powers. She can make clones of herself, she's basically a one girl orgy" Itsuka explained "You can see why I was so upset now right, all that noise" grabbing Izuku's hand

"Come one before they really get started!"she pulled him out of the dorm to escape the many moans and giggles coming from the bathroom.

* * *

Please read and review thank you all comments are welcomed though flames may make me quit so be kind.


	10. Chapter 10

Dex had never suspected he would be grateful for assigned seating, but as he took his desk at the end of the row next to a short boy with messy hair, Dex did take a moment to thank his lucky stars. It wasn't that he preferred aisle seats- he had a feeling that no position in the room would liven up Ethics of Heroism - but it did make things a bit easier on him.

Dex had known when he chose the cover persona of a happy-go-lucky, chatter-happy dimwit that there would be certain concessions involved.

One that he hadn't counted on grating as much as it did was the need to be around his fellow dorm mates constantly, seeking them out and keeping conversations aloft. He'd vested ample time with Izuku, but some of the others were a bit more difficult to wrangle, and of course Ibarai was easy, she wanted to be close with everyone.

Thus, if he had been able to choose his own seat, he would have been forced by his own sense of commitment to take one near his fellow Melbrook residents. Being placed on the end away from them allowed him a measure of alone time without offending his actor's sensibilities.

Dex extracted a binder and a pen from his bag and turned to an untouched section. He already had notes from his economics and accounting classes that morning, so this was his last mind-stretcher of the day. Afterwards came gym, whatever that entailed, and then he would be done with his first day of college. It was pleasant of them to have put it on a Friday at least, allowing the students a chance to acclimate to the town around UA.

Dex perused the room, taking cursory notes and finding the positions of the others from his dorm. Hitoshi had finally popped back up that morning, and he was easy to spot as he strut through the rows, trying to find his spot. The others took a few minutes to locate since the room was full of the freshman class, all clad in their black uniforms.

He managed to locate the final one, Ibarai, just as the door opened and Dean Blaine walked into the front of the room.

"Good morning, class," Dean Blaine said with a large smile. "As all of you will hopefully remember, my name is Dean Blaine, and I will be teacher for Ethics of Heroism. And before anyone asks, no, you aren't getting special treatment. I consider it my personal pleasure to instruct the new freshmen every year, helping them to understand not just what we do, but why it is so important that we do it."

A hand went up quickly. The class's suck-up, no doubt. Dex knew there would be one: there always was, and of course they couldn't wait to identify themselves by asking the first question. There was no surprise in Dex that someone was already drawing attention to themselves. What did surprise him was the voice of the question asker. He chided himself for not having anticipated someone that obvious.

"So does that mean you and the two coaches make up the entirety of the Hero Certification Program's staff?" Momo asked once Dean Blaine pointed to her.

"Certainly not," Dean Blaine assured her. "There are several more professors on staff here, though you won't be working under any of them until sophomore year."

"Why not?" This time the question came from a tall girl with her hair pulled back tightly into a braid. She didn't bother to raise her hand.

"Well, simply put, you wouldn't gain anything from them yet," Dean Blaine explained. "You see, freshman year of this program is the year that we ready your minds and bodies for what is to come over the following three. This is the year that you get the basics, and it's the year we see how many of you have the determination to see our program through to the end. The other professors will be working with you on more specialized programs, programs that you don't have the groundwork for yet."

"See it through?" Momo shot the tall girl who apparently didn't believe in the

courtesy of the hand raise a disapproving look.

"Yes," said Dean Blaine. "The training here is rather grueling, and many who

think they want to pursue this line of work soon change their minds once they experience it. The dropout rate of the Hero Certification Program is approximately sixty-five percent. That does not include students who are cut by the staff, either; that number only represents voluntary departures."

The tall girl let out a low whistle, but ceased her questioning of the dean.

"Anyway," Dean Blaine continued. "As all of you should know, this will be the

only Friday that we meet. Normally this class will only be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the other three days allotted for personal study. I'm sure most of you are counting on that as a free period, but I assure you, it is time you should cherish. That is a boon we only provide to the freshmen, to help ease the transition. Now then, on to the syllabus."

There was a collective sigh that rippled through the class. No one groaned, but it was close.

Dean Blaine laughed. "Same reaction every year. Forgive my little joke, but there won't be a syllabus. This is a discussion class, one for which you will be graded on participation and attendance, but written work doesn't really mesh with the subject matter we're covering. If I asked you for a paper on why Heroes give themselves and their careers to protecting the safety of the people, you'd just be up all night writing words. When I ask you that question, which I will, incidentally, I want to look you in the eye and hear what you really think. So come prepared to talk and think, but otherwise you won't need anything but your wit."

That was a relief to almost everyone else in the class. Dex swore inwardly. Now he'd have to bluff the dean at least twice a week. Of course, he could always answer honestly, but Dex was smarter than he appeared, at least smart enough to know that was a dumb idea.

The views Dex had been raised with didn't correlate so well with the rest of society's values. The truth had its place, and it was called a deathbed.

"That brings us to the matter of today. I'm sure many of you are anxious to be off to the next class and find out what gym is all about," Dean Blaine said.

There were a few enthusiastic nods around the room; clearly the idea of training openly with their abilities appealed to many of the students. "Well, I commend your curiosity and I'm going to reward it. Today we will be dismissing Ethics of Heroism early to give you all an extra half hour of gym. I think it will give you a proper appreciation."

The rest of the class seemed upbeat as they stowed their binders and began rising from their seats. Dex was a bit more apprehensive. Among all of them, he seemed to be one of the few who noticed that Dean Blaine hadn't told them what exactly they would be getting a proper appreciation of.

He tried to assure himself that he was just reading into things too much.

Several hours later, when he finally had the energy to, he admonished himself for not trusting his instincts.

"Two-minute break," Coach Sekijiro shouted to the freshmen.

"Oh, thank you, dear and sweet merciful lord of heaven,"Hitoshi gasped silently. Izuku and Dex had a similar sentiment but lacked the breath to express it.

What the course schedule had referred to as "gym" was in fact a tortuous living hell. For the past three hours there had been nothing but nonstop physical exertion.

Pushups, sit-ups, weight training, resistance training, all with running in between. There had been a total of five two-minute breaks counting this one, and the rest of the time had been spent constantly active.

Hitoshi cursed himself, he had used up all that energy this morning and the night before, he could barely catch his breath. What was the point of this anyway, he wasn't a fighter, all he needed was his voice and he would be fine. Hitoshi would be the first to admit that he wasn't the best at the physical part of the HCP.

The only upside was that almost no one was faring well throughout this training. Izuku and Dex were both gasping for air beside him as they stopped running, and across the track he could see the girls leaning against the wall, resting with as much vigor as possible. The coaches had separated the boys and girls into two herds at opposite ends of the track, warning that dire consequences would occur if anyone fell so far behind that they wound up in the other sex's herd.

A young-looking boy with messy brown hair had been the only one so far, and Coach Nemuri had swept him off to another area. No one wanted to know what he had to do.

Truthfully, though, Hitoshi wasn't sure how long it would be before others followed suit. The only reason more hadn't lagged behind was that both groups were losing speed and stamina at similar rates.

Near the head of the boys' group a angry blond guy was holding it together pretty well, and next to him was a boy with red and white hair who didn't even seem to be sweating or breathing hard. Those with physical based powers were kicking ass at life today. Hitoshi cursed himself again. If he hadn't been fooling around with clone girl he'd probably be doing better .

"Why... why did we let Dean Blaine dismiss us early?" Izuku asked as he sucked in air.

"We're idiots," Dex responded instantly. "He was right, though. I now have a profound appreciation for Ethics of Heroism."

Izuku and Hitoshi nodded their agreement. Neither would be fantasizing about another early release any time soon. Or ever, for that matter.

"Time's up, you over-confident wimps," Coach Sekijiro yelled. It couldn't have been two minutes. There was no way it was two minutes. Hitoshi felt sweat pouring off of him; he couldn't take any more of this. He was out of shape to begin with; at least the others had some semblance of stamina. Before he could actually pass out, though, Coach Sekijiro hollered once more.

"Everyone run over here and take a knee." They followed his instructions quickly, never more happy in their entire lives to sit down on the hard wooden floor than they were at that precious moment. Coach Sekijiro stood in front of them and Coach Nemuri came up next to him. Somewhere inside him, Hitoshi couldn't stop his eyes from roaming at the sight of her. Hitoshi shoved those thoughts down immediately. It was bad enough he was getting dirty looks from Julia for ogling .

The last thing he needed was to be labeled as the student who tried to bang a coach.

"You did piss poorly today," Coach Sekijiro began. "That amount of exercise shouldn't even faze a Hero, but you all were struggling just to make it to the end. With precious few exceptions, I daresay none of you would have finished if we kept going for the extra thirty minutes."

Hitoshi certainly wasn't going to argue that point and he didn't suspect any of the other freshmen were either.

"When this year is over, you're going to look back on today with a sense of nostalgia for how light the workouts were. You're going to have fantasies that when you come into class we just tell you to run most of the time. This will be the happiest day of your career in gym, because from here on out it only gets worse," Coach Sekijiro said.

The scariest part of his mini-speech was that he wasn't yelling or trying to put fear into them. He seemed to be sincerely warning them, which made it all the more terrifying.

"Now, before I hand things off to Coach Nemuri to talk about how the rest of this year will work, there are two people I want to see up front. Shoto todorki and ibarai , get up here."

Ibarai made her way slowly over to the front. She was dripping with sweat and still breathing hard, but she seemed to have held together better than many of the others, Hitoshi included. The boy who rose up was the multicolored hair who seemed perfectly at ease.

It was as though he had been sitting in air conditioning all day; not even his hair was too ruffled. Hitoshi didn't know what his ability was, but in this situation it was an awesome boon.

It was humorous to see the two standing next to each other, Shoto with his height and broad shoulders next to Ibarai's slim frame and understated smile.

If someone was looking in from the outside, they would have never guessed what those two had in common.

"Okay class, I want you to take a good look at these two. Before, they were just names, but now you've seen their faces. These are the two freshmen standing at the top of the heap. They are the number one ranks from both sexes, and I have to tell you, there is a large gap between them and the rest of you. So burn these faces into your minds, because from now until the end of the year your only real goal is to beat them. You have one year to get stronger, get faster, get better, and take another shot at the combat trials. In the world of Heroes if you aren't the strongest, you're just next in line to die. Work hard," Coach Sekijiro said. He dismissed Ibarai and Shoto to go sit down, then took a step back as Coach Nemuri came to the front.

"I want to speak briefly with you about the year to come," Coach Nemuri said.

"For the first semester we will be spending all three hours as we have today, only with gradually increasing intensity. This is done to give you the base endurance and strength that every Hero needs to function. After winter break, however, the format will change. We will still be spending the first two hours with physical training, but afterward we will be splitting you into two classes. They will be combat training and alternative training."

There was a murmur among the students. What kind of training was there besides combat? Coach Nemuri ignored the commotion and went straight to answering the implied question.

"Alternative training is where we will help those of you with skills ill-suited to fighting learn to use them effectively in the field. Though some of you will no doubt think that this is inferior to combat training, let me assure you that there are ways to protect the innocent for those of us who can't throw a tank."

She paused for a moment and Hitoshi thought he saw her dart a glance at Coach Sekijiro . But as she resumed a moment later he assured himself it must have been imaginary.

"As for who will go in what class, the top five ranked students from each sex will automatically be in combat training, while the bottom five will automatically be in alternative training. The rest of you will be evaluated by Coach Sekijiro and me to determine where your talents lie," Coach Nemuri explained.

A hand went up shockingly fast. Hitoshi recognized the question asker as Itsuka from his morning fun.

"Yes, Ms. Kindo?" Coach Nemuri said, pointing to Itsuka.

"What if we are in the bottom five but really want to do combat training? Is there any way for us to prove we can handle it?"

"Actually, yes," Coach Nemuri said. "You can challenge another student for their rank. The two of you will be assigned a supervisor, a combat room, and a healer on hand. Then you will duke it out, and whoever is standing at the end keeps the higher rank."

"But why would people with higher ranks agree to a challenge? All they can do is lose," Itsuka pointed out.

"They very well might deny you the right to challenge. Of course, this is a graded class that requires a passing grade to continue with the Hero Certification Program, and you will find nearly all of you lack the physical strength to pass it on merit alone. Fighting in challenges earns you bonus points, and successfully defending your rank earns you significantly more points. On the other hand, declining challenges will take points off of your grade, so sitting pretty on your rank is a dangerous move to make unless you are confident that you're strong enough to handle every hurdle Coach Sekijiro and I will put before you," Coach Nemuri said.

Hitoshi groaned internally. He had been certain that the fighting was behind them until the end of the year. Hitoshi comforted himself by trying to remember that he wouldn't actually have to fight anyone with his is quirk he could beat anyone.

"There are rules for the challenging process, though," Coach Nemuri continued. "The main one is the rule of five. You can only challenge someone within five ranks of you. If you want someone higher, you'll have to climb your way to them challenge by challenge.

Additionally, the top five on either side cannot be challenged by anyone lower. So rank six cannot go after rank five even though they are one rank apart. This is due to the difference in ability that the top five have compared to the rest of the class. They may challenge within their ranks, but otherwise none of you can fight them until the end of the year. Aside from that, make sure all fights are registered and monitored. Otherwise they don't count, and in fact will be punished severely. Everyone understand?"

The class nodded collectively.

"Good. Now go hit the showers. You all stink to hell. Oh, and enjoy the weekend. It's the last one you'll have for months with only minor soreness," Coach Nemuri said.

* * *

This was mostly just a world building chapter but please read and review, thanks in advance.


	11. Chapter 11

Logically speaking, there had to be a part of Momo that didn't hurt. She comprehended that in a rational, understanding-of-biology sort of way. Unfortunately, all that knowledge couldn't convince her body to find a position that didn't provoke spasms of soreness coursing through her nerves. Never in her life did she suspect she would ever look back on her one-on-one sessions with her personal trainer as such a light, peaceful workout.

Yet here she was.

"Here", in this case, was sprawled out on the sofa in the communal area, watching TV and trying desperately to get comfortable. She would have much preferred to be in her own room trying to sleep, or even in just the girls' lobby so she could at least take her stupid bra off, but returning home had led to the discovery that the cable had only been hooked up to the common room so far.

The other rooms only had access to basic channels, and subpar entertainment wasn't going to do much to take her mind off of what today's workout had done to her.

She took comfort that the others seemed to have had the same idea, as they were slumped over and groaning in the chairs and loveseats scattered throughout the room.

Everyone was there except Hitoshi, who had excused himself a few minutes ago to change. Momo couldn't really imagine he owned more comfortable clothing than the sweat pants and a t-shirt he had been wearing, but she supposed anything was possible.

The rest of them were watching a sitcom, shifting occasionally and presumably trying not to think about how they had an entire week of this starting on Monday. Even Ibarai's presence reminded her that even the number one girl was hurting.

Momo's forced focus on the flat-screen was interrupted by a bottle of water bumping gently against her head.

"What the ah!" Momo exclaimed. She relaxed as she noticed the bottle was not alone. It seemed to have come with an assortment of friends who were held up a few

inches from the faces of Izuku and Dex. Ibarai was already sipping on hers. Momo may have been intrigued by the vines holding the water, but she wasn't so tired she couldn't put this simple puzzle together.

"Oh. Thank you for the water, Ibarai," Momo said as she took the bottle and twisted off the cap.

"No trouble," Ibarai replied honestly. It wasn't as though the bottles were heavy or hard to maneuver. The four weary would-be warriors sat in suffering silence after that, the only punctuation aside from groans and television banter being the occasional sip from a bottle of water.

Stepping back out from the boys said Hitoshi looked at the four, his tired eyes studying them. "Are you all just going to sit around all day?" he asked waking to the kitchen.

"I don't know about the others but I cleared my schedule so that I could have ample lazy time today" Dex quipped watching the tired man walk around.

Izuku was watching Hitoshi as well "how are you not tired?" he asked curious only to get a wave of a hand "I'm always tired, its just something to deal with" he began taking out some pots and pans

"What are you making?" Momo asked at the moment Hitoshi was way more entertaining than whatever was currently on the tv

"It's something my mother and uncle taught me to make, it eases soreness and gives energy." Hitoshi tossed a bunch of ingredients into the pot. "It taste like shit though, who wants some?" he smirked at the others.

Izuku was on his feet and in the kitchen within seconds "I'm game, I could use a pick me up" he hated feeling like he wasn't doing anything productive.

Momo and Ibarai were less enthusiastic and Dex was just sitting there, they couldn't really tell if he was even awake.

"I was planning on heading to a club to meet with some ladies later, you should check it out, if you all aren't too sore" he laughed downing the concoction and walking out.

Izuku blinked " I thought he was dating that Julia girl?" he stared after the purple haired man.

There was a loud snort drawing everyone's attention to the man they assumed had fallen asleep. "I take it you are not familiar with the term one night stand?" Dex stood up and walked next to Izuku staring at what ever the brain washing boy made.

Dex noticed the silence that took over the dorm, turning around he saw three blushing faces ".. seriously?" he laughed they were all so innocent.

Making four cups of the stuff he held it up "bottoms up, we are going to see how someone who looks like they never sleep picks up girls" Dex handed a cup to Izuku and downed his own "Gah that's gross" Izuku looked ready to throw up after drinking his.

"I will pass, I do not see myself being comfortable in such a place" Ibarai said but used vines to grab hers and Momo's cups "Be safe and have fun" she drank hers and made a nasty face.

"Momo, do you want to tag along?" Izuku asked her as she sipped the nasty mix with all the pose and grace of a heiress "I think I will" she gave them a smile, ignoring all the bewildered looks she was getting from drinking the concoction with no outward reaction.

"Well," Dex said at a volume higher than normal. "This seems like a lovely, cultured establishment."

Izuku, Momo, and Dex all stood in the entryway of club with a rock like theme and a powerfully pumping stereo system.

It had taken Izuku a few minutes to look up the address and he cursed himself for having wasted the time. They could have found their way using the tacky neon glow and the ridiculously loud music, both of which were detectable from blocks away. He was happy Dex and Momo had decided to join him.

Izuku had been very tempted to ask why she decide to come having expected her response to be the same as Ibarai, but decided against it.

It wasn't as though she had been unfriendly at all; he had merely thought she would see herself above coming to a place like this. It was his own fault for making such assumptions about her just because she projected a confident and put-together aura.

As the out-of-place trio maneuvered through the robust crowd, Izuku was surprised by how many people his age seemed to be in attendance. Most of them had large black X's on their hands like he and his friends, so they were old enough to get in but too young to drink.

He looked around more and realized that none of the faces looked

familiar. It made more sense, though: only the Supers would be reeling after today's workout. The rest of the college would be out celebrating their return to school and the first Friday of the year. This place was close to campus, so even if the younger students couldn't drink, it was still a good place to get off campus and meet new people.

Izuku passed a pair of girls in a corner taking shots behind a potted plant while trying to keep their hands out of sight. He re-evaluated the possible reasons the underage students would come. Izuku was tempted to yell at Dex and Momo to split up and cover more ground looking for Hitoshi, but he wasn't confident he would hear or feel the cell phone in his pocket with all the bass and noise surrounding them.

That was a shame, because he could have used a way to cover more ground. The club was huge, with three bars on the first floor and two more on the second. An enormous dance floor sat a few inches higher on the first floor, making sure everyone could have a good view of the people shaking their stuff.

It seemed oddly like a way to window shop to Izuku. After a moment, he realized that's exactly what it was.

"I think we're doing this wrong!" Momo yelled, getting Izuku and Dex's attention and dragging them near a set of restrooms where things were marginally quieter.

"How so?" Izuku asked.

"We're looking for one person in a giant club. That could take forever. We should be looking for a group instead," Momo explained.

"Why a group? All we want is Hitoshi," Izuku pointed out.

"Yes, but Hitoshi said he was meeting ladies here," Momo explained.

"Do you think he was telling the truth," Izuku said.

"Yeah, if we're going to question his truthfulness to us then we have to ask ourselves if we're even at the right club. So why don't we just work under the assumption he was honest for now?" Dex said.

"Right. So, if Hitoshi is meeting ladies, then we need to look for a cluster of them, probably ones that are our age if he met them that night on campus," Momo said.

"Cluster of people our age," Izuku agreed. He turned his head back toward the club and tried to count how many clusters of people he saw in the college-aged range.

Once he passed thirty, he turned back around to Momo. "I don't suppose there's anything else that would narrow it down?"

"It'll be almost, if not completely, made up of girls," Momo replied.

"How do you know that?" Dex asked.

"I saw him last night. Trust me, that boy only has one thing on his mind and definitely isn't just sitting on a stool all night," Momo said with a light blush.

"Gotcha," Izuku said quickly, closing off the subject with a blush of his own. "Okay, let's scout for groups of girls our age with purple hair poking out from the middle."

"You know, I'm a little surprised there's such a massive rock bar out here," Dex said as they started back into the main area of the club.

"There's everything around UA. There's a gay club, a techno club, a dance club, and a bunch of bars," Momo said. "UA is a pretty huge school and people come from all over Japan, so local business owners found a niche for just about every kind of way to drink and meet new copulation partners."

Dex laughed loudly. "I've never heard picking up bar skanks put in such a classy way."

"It's a gift," Momo replied.

"Speaking of gifts, I think we just got handed one," Izuku said, pointing to the dance floor. Standing a few yards away from them, dancing simultaneously with three girls, was Hitoshi. He was moving smoothly to the beat while holding a drink in his left hand. Periodically he would take sips, usually while executing spin maneuvers.

Not one drop of the brown liquid was spilled; in fact, none of it looked like it dared summon up the nerve to even approach the rim of the glass, unless, of course, it was making a direct beeline for Hitoshi's mouth.

Izuku noticed Hitoshi's hands weren't stamped and wondered how he managed to pull that off. It wasn't really relevant, so he pushed the thought aside. What mattered now was meeting up with Hitoshi, he had invited them out after all.

That plan was almost immediately interrupted by a familiar voice behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Deku!"

Izuku turned around and found himself face to face with his former opponent and childhood bully.

"Kacchan?" Vince asked.

"Don't call me that," Katsuki replied. He was a touch out of place, wardrobe-wise, having chosen to wear only a black tank top that drew attention to the impressive arms and shoulders his practice at boxing had wrought him. Combined with the steel-toed boots on his feet and the unpleasant sneer on his face, it made for an appearance that was anything but warm or friendly.

"You decided to come out tonight too, I guess," Izuku said a bit nervously.

"I wouldn't have if I knew I'd see trash like you," Katsuki corrected him. A quick glance behind revealed two other males standing in proximity to him. One was short with ink-black hair and the other was strikingly familiar. It only took Izuku a moment to place him; after all,

Coach Sekijiro had been adamant about searing that face into his mind.

"You're Shoto, aren't you?" Izuku asked. Dex jerked visibly and Momo suddenly seemed uncomfortable. From the rumors that were floating around, Shoto had dominated every opponent he went up against except the number two rank. Even then it hadn't really been a close fight: just a minute or so longer than the others. It made them feel uncomfortable being at the bottom of their own genders

"I am," Shoto confirmed. "You're Izuku Midoriya, the girl to your side is Momo yaoyorozu , and the boy slowly edging his way behind you is Dex Ebony"

"Wow," Izuku said. "That's really impressive. How'd you do that?"

"Student directory and an eidetic memory," Shoto replied with a bored shrug.

"Awesome; well, it was cool running into you, Kacchan, but we're sort of in the middle of something," Izuku said as he delicately tried to extricate his group from katsuki's and get as far away as possible

"Hold up, I didn't say you could fucking leave Deku" Katsuki said, placing a hand firmly on Izuku's shoulder and squeezing. "I owe you some payback for the cheap shit you pulled on me the other day, bet you think you think you beat me ."

"Kacchan all I did was use my talent against yours in a perfectly acceptable and legal way during a recorded and observed fight. And since we had to use non lethal force I couldn't hit you." Izuku sighed.

"You lured me in thinking you just a quirkless loser, then you pull some shit blasting pressurized air . You tricked me,you've been looking down on me" Katsuki said, his hand tightening its grip.

"It's called strategy, and I suggest you adapt to it quickly in this school. Isn't this moot anyway, though? You won, you beat me, you proved you're the better fighter between us," Izuku tried to pacify him, but at the same time he wasn't the same boy that would let himself get bullied.

"Maybe I feel like I deserve a little more payback for you lying," Katsuki replied, flexing his impressive arms.

"Okay," Izuku said simply. In a motion like flowing mercury, Izuku snagged

Katsuki's arm carelessly exposed arm, gripped his shoulder, and applied pressure above and below the elbow. "If that's the case, then maybe you should keep in mind that I've gotten better than you when we take out any extraordinary advantages."

"Gaah," Katsuki grunted as Izuku intensified the pressure. He was holding Katsuki close so that anyone that happened to glance over might think they were still merely talking. He had come here to hang out with his new friends ; the last thing he needed was the bouncers noticing what was going on.

"I'm going to have to ask you to release him," Shoto said as he moved slowly up to Katsuki's side. "As you recall, those beneath the top five ranks may not challenge us formally or otherwise."

"Wasn't really looking for a challenge, I just wanted to come out with my friends. Kacchan here is the one who had a problem with me being here," Izuku replied.

"Noted, but you're the one who took it from verbal to physical," Shoto countered.

"It was a nice grab, by the way, but from the way his face is contorting, I'd say you have only a few more seconds to release it before Bakugo makes this situation worse and escalates things."

Izuku looked at Shoto, and then felt the shaking in Katsuki's muscles. If it had been anywhere else Izuku might have been able to subdue Katsuki and keep him from blowing their cover. Hearing the faint popping, though, that just wasn't an option. Making a snap decision, Izuku released his hold and quickly took a step back.

Katsuki wheeled around, eyes wide and a long vein bulging noticeably on the top of this head. He shook off the arm that Izuku had been holding and then curled the hand into a fist.

"If you do this, you know there will be severe consequences, right?" Shoto asked in his same detached tone.

"Fuck 'em," Katsuki replied tersely. Izuku shifted his footing slightly, readying himself to dodge Katsuki's blows.

"what are you doing making such a scene?" The voice was Hitoshi, who sauntered up to the tense zone that surrounded Izuku and Katsuki.

"I mean, really, you were doing good at staying covert for a while, but taking a fighting stance? Now everybody is paying attention to you."

"Not your fight," Katsuki grunted, his eyes never wavering from Izuku's waiting form, but then he froze slightly

"You're right, its not my fight but I'm enjoying my night and I'd rather no one start a bar fight" Hitoshi smirked "So walk away and go home" he commanded and just like that Katsuki turned and left the bar. The tall dark-haired boy accompanied him. Shoto, however, lingered for a moment.

"Nice job, Hitoshi," Shoto said. "It would have problematic to deal with the fallout from that. And as for you,Midoriya, it would be wise to remember your place at this school."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Izuku asked, his voice still a hair on edge from the almost-confrontation.

"It means you are weak. You have no rights to things such as pride and aggression when dealing with those more powerful than you. You would be better served to bow your head and avoid conflict," Shoto explained.

"I'm no longer the boy who does that anymore," Izuku shot back.

"Maybe you should be, so I wouldn't have to tell you that. Think about it, because the next time Katsuki catches up to you, he will likely be smart enough to do it without a crowd present, Hitoshi, if you would please release Bakugo." Shoto said.

He turned and moved to catch up with the other two, sliding easily through the crowd at an oddly brisk speed.

"What a cock," Hitoshi said simply. "Anyway, that was fun, but time to go tell my the pretty ladies about how I stopped a bar fight. Later."

"Wait," Izuku said. "Um... thank you. For keeping Katsuki and me out of trouble."

"Don't thank me," Hitoshi said in a more serious tone than he had shown all night.

"I wasn't lying; I only came over because your little show was getting necessary attention. If I didn't know this particular bar cuts off everyone's drinks when there is a fight, I would have watched him beat you right off your high horse and never lifted a finger. But you also defended my ability, this is me paying you back." Hitoshi turned away from them and began heading back to the dance floor.

"I don't know about you two," Dex said as Hitoshi walked further from them.

"But personally, I'm seriously creeped out by the whole talk to me and lose your free will thing, beginning to think that he might not be the best candidates for our bff for life club. Just me talking out loud, though; totally open to other opinions."

"Stop that Dex," Izuku and Momo said in unison with a smile happy the tension was broken.


	12. Chapter 12

Reminder: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia or the book Super Powereds this is just fan made and not for profit, but you should check both out for a great read!

* * *

"Good afternoon, class; I trust everyone had a fun weekend," Dean Blaine said he breezed into the classroom. It was Tuesday and all of the freshmen were gathered in his lecture hall for their first real session of Ethics of Heroism.

Well, almost all of them. As Dex did his customary sweep of the room, he noticed three of the seats now stood out as empty. There had been two students in Monday's gym who had broken down crying and one who had simply collapsed.

As he stared at the cheap plastic chairs left vacant, the fact that there was no possibility these two things weren't related gnawed at the back of his mind.

In fact, what were the odds that this lecture hall would have had precisely the correct number of seats for this class size? Dex realized these empty seats were meant to be noticed, meant to remind them that some of the class hadn't been able to cut it.

And if they were using a method like this, then it could only mean they expected many more chairs to be ownerless before the year was through.

"Now then, I'm sure some of you are wondering how we will be discussing such a complicated and tangled topic as ethics and how it pertains to Quirks. We're going to start by defining what quirks are. And that, my students, begins with an understanding of where they come from. Can anyone tell me who the first officially-documented Quirk owner is, and in what year they revealed themselves?"

Several hands shot up, and Dean Blaine pointed to a boy in the front. "Tokoyami, please enlighten us."

"The first documented Quirked hero was Captain Starlight, a former War pilot who approached the government about working with people like him, the so-called extraordinary individual traits that would eventually be known as Quirks. This took place about one year after the war, and was caused by Captain Starlight's frustration with returning to civilian life after having achieved a sense of purpose defending his country during the war,"

The boy in front said. Dex realized with a start that it was the other guy they had dealt with on Friday, Fumikage tokoyami. His voice hadn't sounded familiar; but then again, Fumikage hadn't spoken once the entire night.

"You're close, Fumikage. Speculations about motivations aside, it was indeed Captain Starlight who approached the government, but that took place four years after the war," Dean Blaine corrected.

"Actually, the government officially announced that the meeting took place then, but it really happened three years prior. It took two years of testing, trials, and Captain Starlight bringing in others with quirks for them to see before the politicians were able to accept that there were such things as Quirks.

They changed the date because they felt taking three years to confirm things that could plainly be read as incompetence to the voters," Fumikage corrected right back.

"An interesting hypothesis," Dean Blaine said. "May I ask where you heard this theory?"

"My grandfather told me," Fumikage replied.

"Wise as I'm sure your grandfather is, I'd wager he wasn't necessarily privy to every detail of Captain Starlight's life and rise to fame," Dean Blaine said.

"The truth lies in the darkness, and can only be seen by a few" Fumikage said simply, crossing his arms.

"Thank you, Fumikage, let's move on. Now, can anyone tell me what important events came about as a result of Captain Starlight's revelation to the government?" Dena Blaine asked. This time he pointed at a hand in the air that was familiar to Dex.

"Because of Captain Starlight's brave actions revealing the existence of quirks, the government made the rest of the country aware of them, setting up special laws to protect aspects of their lives, and ultimately set up the Hero Certification Program so that Supers who had undergone proper training and qualification would be able to protect our country without being held liable for incidental damages caused in the process," Momo said rapidly.

"Very nice, yaoyorozu ," Dean Blaine complimented. "Those are all correct, though there were of course many more ramifications to Captain Starlight's revelation than that; but we will get into those at a later date. For now, we know that Captain Starlight is the first officially documented quirked hero. Does that mean he was the first in existence? Please tell us, Ebony."

"No," Dex responded immediately. The dean had been spamming his eyes across the class during the discussion thus far. Dex had noticed those eyes hesitate for an instant on him seconds before the question came, so he had been ready for it. Dex noted that he needed to look just a dash more interested in discussions.

The goal was to draw no attention, neither from being too observant nor too apathetic. Clearly he had fumbled and fallen below the acceptable apathy line.

"How do you know that?" Dean Blaine continued pressing.

"I don't," Dex said honestly. "But nobody does. Since there are no records, we can't really say for certain one way or the other if Captain Starlight was the first quirked. The popular consensus leans toward the negative, though."

"Correct, Ebony. Without documentation, no one can prove or disprove the existence of previous Quirks," Dean Blaine said. "Of course, the odds of an entire genetic offshoot beginning with one man and then continuing to appear at a steady rate for half a century afterwards are ludicrously low. This means that most likely Captain Starlight was nowhere near the first. Again, though, we don't know, and this lack of knowledge has led to many controversies and theories. Who can name one?"

Dean Blaine pointed to a young man wearing glasses in the front row.

"My mom used to say that the stories of the Greek gods were really about people with quirks, the people just didn't know it then."

"A popular theory indeed," Dean Blaine said. "And this led to one of the greatest controversies that our existence has caused in this century. Who would like to venture a guess on what that was? Midoriya, give it a go."

"Religion,"Izuku said quickly. It was an interesting paradox that Izuku could be so self-assured and insecure simultaneously. Dex already had a few ideas at how that tendency could work in his own favor, though.

"Please elaborate," Dean Blaine told him.

"People pretty much all agreed that the Greek gods were just people with quirks in disguise, so it was only a matter of time until they began speculating about whether other iconic figures from the past had really just been people with quirks. The most obvious ones were all those tied to magical events. Prophets, saviors, warriors of their lord, everything was thrown into even more speculation that it had been," Izuku explained.

"Very good, Midoriya," Dean Blaine said cutting him off. "The addition of quirks to our world meant the opening of new possibilities. Events that had been mentioned in religious texts could now be challenged not only on historical accuracy, but also the possibility that even if they had occurred, then perhaps it wasn't a divine hand that had guided them. Now the truly devout had to defend their faith on a whole other level, and it was not well-received."

Hitoshi was not acclimating well to gym. The first day had been rough and utter hell but every day he would do a little better. Hitoshi was struggling to stay in the middle of the pack refusing to fall behind someone like Dex who's quirk was useless.

While every day was sprinkled with different exercises, running was a

constant. It seemed that whatever curriculum Coach Sekijiro had in mind factored heavily on cardio and endurance. For most of the class it was a grueling daily struggle just to keep up and not give in. He had noticed Izuku looking back at him worried and that annoyed him, he was number fifth in the ranking he didn't want to be looked down on by someone below the top five.

Hitoshi was breathing heavily, hopefully they were almost done. He distracted himself by thinking of his dorm mates and how they treated him after the night at the club. Izuku was obviously worried that he was more focused on women then the HCP. Hitoshi scoffed at that, as if he couldn't do both easily. Momo had seemed to have warmed up to him no longer sending unsure gazes his way, probably after he showed how well his power worked in covert situations.

Dex was still a annoying sunglasses wearing idiot that never shut up, but Hitoshi avoided controlling him again to shut him up. And Ibarai he wasn't sure if she liked him or not, it was almost like she just avoided being in the same room.

"Time!" Coach Sekijiro yelled from across the gym. "Line up!" The boys and girls filtered from their opposite sides of the track to the center of the gym where Sekijiro and Nemuri stood waiting.

The rule of staying on opposite sides had stayed in effect since day one, and though lapping was permitted, falling behind was never tolerated. So far every student who had fallen back into the other sex's group had been taken out and not seen again.

It seemed they were playing hardball. Hitoshi was almost worried.

"Well," Coach Sekijiro said once they had all fallen into line. "It seems you survived another day. I'm a touch surprised; I was sure we'd be kicking another couple of you out today."

Panicked looks fleetingly leapt across the faces of some of the slower students.

Personally, Hitoshi felt it wasn't warranted. Some quirks didn't need physical training so what if you lost your group for one day. If they did fall behind one day they should have another day to do better.

"I was wrong," Coach Sekijiro continued. "If I were you, I'd savor those words, because you won't be hearing them very often. I'm a man, though, and I'll own up to my mistakes. I was wrong, and today every one of you managed to keep up and stay in the program. So the question I find myself asking is this: are you all just much that better than I thought, or are you all so weak and worthless that it's impossible to tell which piece of shit has sunk to the bottom of the toilet?"

No one said anything, the weaker students struck dumb with fear and the stronger ones arrogantly self-assured that this conversation wasn't for them.

"I think it might be the latter," Coach Sekijiro said. "So I want you all to think about something. There are only so many spots for advancement out of this year into the next. Just passing isn't enough; we're only taking the best. Next time you're slowing down to stay with your group instead of driving harder to leave them behind and knock some slow shit out of the running, I want you to think about that. Think real hard about whether you want to be a nice guy who helps everyone squeak by with mediocrity or if you want to be a Hero. Because I promise you, a mediocre Hero is just a corpse that's a week behind schedule. Get out of my sight."

The line broke and students began moving quickly toward the showers. Hitoshi groaned seeing that his feelings on second chances were all but dashed, if he fell behind one day that would be the end of it.

* * *

Please read and review though i'm writing this mainly for my fun and rereading the books i'd like to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

here's a new chapter with a bit a fluff. Enjoy

* * *

As the days turned into weeks, Izuku noticed a funny thing. He was getting used to his new life at UA. He was slowly growing accustomed to sleeping in the same bed under the same roof every night.

He was growing tolerant of Dex's flapping gums and Hitioshi's uncaring demeanor. His body was even beginning to get used to the five-times-a-week workouts from hell. It was strange, but each day that passed found him more comfortable with his life here.

He was beginning to feel like he might finally have a shred of normalcy in life, with his quirk and his wandering suspended.

On the day he truly he became certain of this, he reached an important decision.

"Itsuka, w..w.. you like to g.g..go out with me to..o. ?" Izuku stuttered pitifully and with a bright red face. It wasn't that he wasn't comfortable around his pretty friend, but the life he'd had before UA had hardly equipped him with much experience in the realm of a social life. This deficiency was one of the reasons he was determined to stop dallying and make up for lost time.

"Sure," Itsuka replied offhandedly. The two were eating breakfast on this Friday morning as was their routine, so she sipped her orange juice before continuing.

"I think Julia is going out tonight and the other two never stay in on a Friday, so we can hang out and watch a movie."

"Yes... well, that does sound fun," Izuku fumbled. "But... you see, I meant would you join me tonight... in a romantic capacity. As in a d..d..date." why was this so hard?

"Yeah, I know," Itsuka said. "Took you long enough. Why do you think I invited you to come watch a movie in my empty dorm?"

"Oh," Izuku said. Then realization dawned. "Oooh. I was thinking something a bit more traditional for our first date." Izuku's face was bright red. Get your mind out the gutter he told himself

"You got a car?" Itsuka interrupted.

"Um... no," Izuku admitted.

"Me neither, and while we can try to find something close by, we are both college kids with no jobs," Itsuka pointed out. "So our options are a romantic candlelit dinner in the dining hall or watching a movie."

"How's seven work for you?" Izuku asked.

"Better make it seven thirty. We do still have to grab a shitty dinner here after all," Itsuka said.

"Point well made," Izuku agreed with a goofy smile.

* * *

"I still can't believe you finally grew a pair and asked her," Dex commented as he reclined on the boys' lounge couch and flipped through the television stations.

"I always had a pair," Izuku said defensively. "I was just getting settled in to my new surroundings. What do you think?"

"You look dumb," Dex replied, barely glancing at Izuku's outfit.

"How is a button-down shirt and slacks considered dumb?" Izuku asked confused.

"It's not, if you're going on a job interview. For going to a dorm to watch a movie, though... little dumb," Dex replied.

"I think it looks nice," Hitoshi chimed in sarcastically .

Izuku stood in the lounge area with his open door to his back. Dex and Hitoshi were sitting on the couch, killing time and offering him advice on what outfit to wear.

In Izuku's room loomed an ever-rising stack of rejected combinations. In all the years Izuku was a wanderer he had never needed to worry about fashion. After thirty minutes of trying on clothes, he was beginning to suspect that he should have relished that time a touch more than he had.

"No, Dex is right," Izuku said. "This is too formal. I'll try again." he turned around and went back into his room, shutting the door while he changed.

"Dex," Hitoshi said sipping a soda. "Izuku is pretty smart, so why isn't he asking the girls what he should wear on a date? You know, since it's a girl he's trying to impress after all."

"Because, my dear boy, he's an social idiot. Plus I may have convinced him I'm something of a fashion expert," Dex said, not quite hiding the chuckle in his voice.

"I don't see it" Hitoshi shot back taking a moment to eye Dex.

Dex cocked an eyebrow and stared at Hitoshi. Of course, as far as Hitoshi could tell, Dex had simply put his eyebrow up and pointed his sunglasses right at him, but the general effect was still the same. Sort of.

"I don't remember asking you."

"He should have asked me since I'm better with the ladies then you?" Hitoshi said.

"I feel like my wardrobe defends itself ." Dex replied ignoring the jab about his lack of female company. Though at that moment Dex was wearing carpenter's pants and a green tank top. "And he didn't ask you because you don't care to help." Izuku's door opened again.

"Okay, this had better be good because if I don't leave soon I'm going to be late!" Izuku declared as he stepped out of his room.

Dex looked him carefully up and down this time. Izuku was wearing black jeans and a pair of flip flops, along with a purple collared shirt. The dark tones worked well with his hair, yet didn't clash green his eyes.

Izuku had accidentally assembled a truly well-planned outfit that highlighted the best parts of himself.

"Adequate," Dex said simply.

"I'll take it," Izuku said with a smile, shutting his room door and dashing out the exit.

"Ahh, young love," Dex said to no one in particular.

"I'm outta here," Hitoshi said, pulling himself up from the chair.

"Big plans tonight?" Dex asked.

"You could say that" Hitoshi replied.

"Cool," Dex said. "One thing before you go, what are your thoughts on Bakugo?"

"Bakugo?" Hitoshi blinked "Yeah, what do you think he has against Izuku? Couldn't just be the fight, if it were I don't think he would call him quirkless. Its been bugging me" Dex said reaching for a magazine.

"Don't know and don't really care. Its between those two, and you are the one with the quirk made for spying" Hitoshi walked out the room.

It was still weird how openly Dex talked to him knowing that he could be taken control of after ever sentence.

* * *

Izuku arrived at Itsuka's dorm and paused before knocking. He checked his breath, made sure his clothes were fitting well, and ran his fingers through his bushy green hair.

Izuku was nervous, almost pathetically so. It wasn't that he had never had a crush on a lady; but a real date, possibly the beginning of a real relationship? That was something he'd always considered impossible until the procedure.

Izuku took a deep breath to steady himself. Itsuka liked him, obviously, and they'd been getting to know each other for weeks since the semester began. It was never going to be any easier than this.

Izuku finally pulled back his hand and knocked on Itsuka's door.

"Took you long enough," Itsuka said as she pulled the door open with a pretty smile. "Come on in, I've popcorn in the microwave."

"You look nice," Izuku said sheepishly and he stepped into her room.

"You, too," Itsuka said with a blush. "So who helped dress you?" she giggled

*an hour later*

"Is ninja a type of power?" Izuku asked as the black-clad warrior on the screen leapt into the air, hovered, and dropped down, depositing his fist in some unwitting minion's fragile skull. "I mean, sticking someone with the title of ninja seems to convey all kinds of ridiculous abilities. I almost wonder if there's a real world variation of this somewhere." Izuku was muttering about the movie.

"Plenty of people have enhanced physical abilities," Itsuka pointed out. "So I suppose doing a couple of these moves would be possible for a chunk of the quirks out there. I don't think that's so much the point of these films, though. It's about learning a martial art and training yourself into being above normal."

"I guess you're right," Izuku agreed.

"Personally, I think it's almost sad. All those weak quirked people out there, desperate for any avenue to make themselves extraordinary. I see why they follow that path," Itsuka commented as she munched on popcorn.

"What about people who learn martial arts for exercise, or self-defense, or to gain a better control over their bodies and their minds? I don't think everyone who learns a martial art is trying to somehow overcompensate for a weak quirk," Izuku countered.

Itsuka shrugged. "People can say whatever they want about their reasons, it doesn't make it the truth. I developed at an early age, so I have almost no memories of not having my quirk, and let me tell you something. No matter how nice someone is, no matter how respectful they are, no matter they say, every human you meet is thinking the same thing when they meet you."

"And what's that?" Izuku asked this topic was touching a little close to home.

"They're thinking: 'Why not me?' They think they should have been born special, been made powerful, been gifted with a strong quirk," Itsuka said. "I might just be a cynic, but it's what I believe. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that any telepath would back me up."

"we could always ask one," Izuku said.

"we should, I bet they'd have some interesting input on it," Itsuka said.

"Maybe," Izuku said. "I doubt we will though." he was glad he didn't know one.

* * *

Hitoshi stepped outside the dorm to see Ibarai standing in front of him. "Going out too? Didn't think it was your style" he asked. She had been more withdrawn then the others, he just wrote it off as her being shy.

"I was waiting for you" Ibarai said simply staring at him " I require your help with a… task" she told him

Hitoshi moved to walk around her "Get someone else, I have plans" he said walking past her. "Are you not even interested?" Ibarai asked

"Not really" Hitoshi shrugged "What if we made a wager, you win I'll do something for you. I win you do something for me" she offered

Hitoshi stared at her "What could you possibly do for me?" he asked "Only reason you are ranked number one is because it was just girls fighting you" Hitoshi brushed her off.

"That's fair, but I am still ranked number one to your five" she shot back. Moving some hair out of her face she gave him a small innocent smile. "Until you are ranked one yourself you can't prove you are stronger than me. And that is where our wager lies."

Hitoshi eyed her "You have my attention, whats the bet" he finally asked

"Its simple, you feel like you should be number one, so why don't you challenge Todoroki Shoto for his spot tomorrow. If you win I'll acknowledge you as the strongest and will have to do whatever you want, but if you lose you have to help me out for the rest of the year" Ibarai told him.

Hitoshi thought about that. "you know what why not, I was planning on challenging him sooner or later anyway. Just be ready to do what I say." with that done he continued walking away, pulling out his phone he still had plans to meet up with Julia.

Ibarai just smiled, the sooner he learned his weakness the sooner they could all work on getting stronger, together.

* * *

"Do you ever shut up?" Itsuka asked.

"Huh?" Izuku squawked, caught unaware he was mumbling.

"Seriously, the movie has gone to the end credits, we're sitting here in a barely lit room with only a few inches between us, and you are still trying to talk about plot validity," Itsuka said.

"I'm... sorry," Izuku said with a embarrassed blush. "I haven't really been on a date."

"Surely you jest," Itsuka said. "It's okay, I knew you were a noob when I met you. Might even be why I kind of like you."

"Kind of like me, eh?" Izuku said with a slowly-spreading smile, barely visible in the television's fading glow.

"A little, but it's diminishing the more you talk," Itsuka replied.

"O..oh," Izuku said. He didn't know what to do till Itsuka leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her. Her lips quickly sought his and found them with only minimal searching. The kiss was awkward at first, but as the intensity grew both lost their sense of self consciousness and became immersed in the task at hand.

When they finally parted to take a breath, it was Itsuka whose words filled the electrified silence.

"Not bad for a virgin," she mused.

"Stop talking so much," Izuku shot back. She did, and they sank down onto the couch, movie, popcorn, and the rest of the world soon utterly forgotten.

* * *

As usual please read and review. I'm still working on getting Ibarai's character more established to fit into the story.


	14. Chapter 14

Discalmer: I do not own ether the series My Hero Academia or super powereds. This is all fan made for fun.

Also since a few have commented on Izuku not being any better at using OFA despite having it longer, its because he was alone the whole time he's had it. without a teacher to show him how to use it or a healer on deck to fix him up after using it he never got to practice it. don't know if that is spoilers but figured I'd throw my few readers a bone.

* * *

Momo was bored... again. As she sauntered into the dorm lobby, laden with bags and well-lit by the morning sun, she began to entertain the possibility that the reason she was bored might be because she was lonely.

Yesterday had left her feeling restless, so she'd jumped in her car, taken a firm grip on Daddy's credit cards, and burned up the town. Her dinner had been at an upscale restaurant that none of the rest of her class would even be able to pronounce, let alone gain entrance to.

She'd even spent the night in a posh hotel room rather than trudge back across town to her comparatively squalid little dorm room. She had spoiled and pampered herself rotten to lift her ever falling spirits.

And yet... and yet she still felt off somehow. It couldn't be loneliness, not logically. Momo had always been alone. Certainly Daddy had kept a devoted staff at the house, but they had all been so much older than her,no someone she could call a friend.

Daddy's schedule had always kept him busy, and her mother had passed away when Momo was just a girl, so she had grown up entertaining herself.

Of course, her playing had involved studying, lest she not be able to use her quirk right. It was a hard lesson momo had learned at a very early age: her quirk was useless without tons of knowledge and facts about everything and anything she could think of.

It was why Momo had learned to grow so comfortable insulated with a book in hand, so reserved in not knowing how to properly portray her feelings. Being alone all the time had actually been a boon there; she had suffered through fewer stimuli and gained a greater sense of control.

She walked into the girls' side of the dorm, then into her room where she deposited her bags. Perhaps it was loneliness after all, only it was affecting her for the first time because her nose was constantly being shoved in it. All around the other students were meeting people and forging friendships.

Yet momo, for all her social grace and tact, had spent yet another Friday night by herself. Well, it wasn't as though she'd ever had to make friends before. She could always manage a conversation with surgical precision, but when it came to taking that leap, she found herself unable to plunge.

She realized it was a somewhat ironic way to think of her dilemma, given that her own ability create anything from nothing, why couldn't she make strong and meaningful bonds like the others.

Momo began putting her new purchases into her closet. Maybe she would try reaching out to her dorm mates tonight. It was Saturday, after all; one had to assume they were planning something. They were always loud and sounding like they had fun, and of course Ibarai who she felt was avoiding her for some reason, but they knew were all put in the same dorm, and that should provide them with at least a bit of common ground.

Besides, if she spent too many more Friday nights alone she'd have to hire a contractor to widen her closet.

"They don't seem to be bonding well," Mr. Numbers noted as he and Mr. Transport dined on breakfast in their apartment.

"Is that problematic to our plan?" Mr. Transport inquired.

"Not problematic per se; however, it does lower our chances of success," Mr. Numbers replied.

"Do tell," Mr. Transport encouraged.

"We need to keep them on the straight and narrow. Peer pressure is a tool that could work for or against us in the long run, but it is not even on our thin list of options until they are moving and thinking as some semblance of a collective," Mr. Numbers explained.

Mr. Transport took a bite of eggs and mulled over Mr. Numbers' point. "So you're proposing that it would be easier for us to manage them as a herd than as individuals."

"Correct," Mr. Numbers confirmed. "It does put all of our eggs in one basket; however, given that the loss of even one student to the side of villainy will result in our termination, it could be said that all the eggs are in that basket anyway."

"I see what you mean," Mr. Transport agreed. "Do you have a solution?"

"Not a solution, but a possibility. One of the greatest ways to bind people together is through necessity," Mr. Numbers said.

"Ah, such as how you and I didn't care for each other when we were first paired, yet trusting our lives to one another forged a powerful bond," Mr. Transport commented.

"Precisely," Mr. Numbers said.

"We can't put their lives in constant danger without arousing suspicion, though," Mr. Transport pointed out. "What do they value with similar or equal intensity?"

"Their grades," Mr. Numbers replied succinctly.

With that, the conversational portion of breakfast was done.

Hitoshi woke up with a hangover and a groan as the previous nights events replayed in his mind. What had he been thinking! Challenging the number one rank so soon, it was all bravado, he had refused to back down to a girl let alone a tiny one like Ibarai.

Though he was kicking himself Hitoshi was a man of his words. Getting out of bed with a grunt he got dressed and stepped out into the lobby.

"Hope you are in your best shape for your match today" Ibarai held a small knowing smile.

This bitch! She knew he was already going out that night but still suckered him into taking the wager today, he was far from his best but it shouldn't take that much to take down Todoroki.

Hitoshi waved her off. "I'll be fine, it's not like he'll be able to land a hit on me anyway." as long as he had his voice Hitoshi knew he could win.

"Well you join me for breakfast, no real reason to rush this" Ibarai used her vines to pull up a chair along with a bowl and spoon for cereal. Hitoshi sat down eyeing her "You are enjoying this too much" he said making himself a bowl

"Of course, its not every day I get to see you so visibly restless. I want to savor it" Ibarai said smiling into her cup of tea, never taking her eyes off Hitoshi.

He hadn't remembered her being so open and forward, had she been playing around to catch him off guard or did she get enjoyment from making others uncomfortable.

Mr. Numbers and Mr. Transport were interrupted from washing their breakfast dishes by the sound of the intercom from the kitchen sounding.

"Ibarai and Hitoshi here. Hitoshi would like to taken down to the underground levels for some special training," came Ibarai's voice through the speakers. "Would Mr. Transport be on hand to assist us?"

Mr. Number and Mr. Transport looked at each and gave a nod. Mr. Transport went to the door and swung it open.

"Good morning, students," Mr. Transport declared. "So, you wish to put in some training time on the weekend? Well, kudos for the determination."

"Actually," Hitoshi said from just outside of the door frame, beyond where Mr. Numbers could see at his vantage point. "I'm the only one going down, and I'd appreciate it if you hung close by. I don't think I'll be there too long."

"You can always take the lift back up if you like," Mr. Transport tried to deflect.

"Please go with him," said Ibarai. "I think it will prove to be necessary."

"Very well," Mr. Transport said with a sigh. "Let's keep it brisk if at all possible, though. I do have things to do today."

"No problem," Ibarai assured him. "Hitoshi will be done in no time at all, won't you, Hitoshi?"

"Count on it," Hitoshi agreed, ignoring the smug vibe coming off Ibarai.

"Well then, off we go," said Mr. Transport. A moment later the door began to

swing shut, as Mr. Transport's body was no longer there to wedge it open. It stopped before locking, pushed opened by the small hand of Ibarai, who poked her head into the room and locked eyes with Mr. Numbers.

"While they're gone, what do you say to a game of chess?" Ibarai asked.

"Hardly seems like much of a game" Mr. Numbers replied gruffly.

"Then it shouldn't take long," Ibarai countered with a quick grin.

"...Fine," Mr. Numbers conceded. The girl was clearly up to something, and if he wanted to know what it was, he needed more data.

"So, what exercise are you looking to practice?" Mr. Transport asked Hitoshi as they arrived in the underground area.

"Combat," Hitoshi replied, striding off toward the gym. Mr. Transport had never seen Hitoshi so focused on anything. He was in his combat uniform, and seemed to be dead set on whatever he was doing.

It was more progress than Mr. Transport had dared hope to see from the nonchalant boy in the entirety of the year, let alone in the span of a few days.

Mr. Transport set off at a brisk stride, not quite catching up to Hitoshi but never losing sight of him, either. They emerged in the weight room, where several grey uniforms were getting some exercise and a pair of black uniforms stood at the back near the free weights. It seemed the two other freshmen were stretching near the weights rather than lifting them.

Mr. Transport was about to conclude they must be too intimidated by the older students to work out around them when he suddenly realized who those two students were.

"Shoto" Hitoshi called casually, drawing the attention of everyone there, included the intended party, Shoto Todoroki, who was stretching in the rear of the room. "I've come to challenge you for your rank of number one," Hitoshi declared, with smirk twitching at the edges of his mouth.

Shoto seemed oddly nonplussed, giving Hitoshi a shrug then turning to the other freshman. "Fumikage," Shoto said to his friend, "would you be so kind as to get a referee and a healer so that we may count this as a sanctioned match?"

The other freshman, Fumikage one could easily conclude, gave a nod of his head and set off toward the offices. Shoto finished his stretches and walked calmly over to Hitoshi.

"You're in the top five, so I won't be taking it as easy on you," Shoto said simply.

"Taking it easy? You're going to find that I'm am much harder to beat than the losers from the rank matches," Hitoshi shot back.

"So be it," Shoto replied. "Let's select a room."

"First move goes to the lady," Mr. Numbers said as he gazed at the chessboard.

"Let me guess: from my opening move you can deduce my strategy, my personality type, and my favorite food?" Ibarai asked.

"You can tell a lot about a person from the first move."

"I figured that as much, you are someone that likes to know everything you can before a move" Ibarai answered, moving a pawn forward. Before her finger had even left the piece Mr. Numbers had run the simulations and knew how he would win this game.

Mr. Numbers made his move, then Ibarai, and so on for several turns. Eventually Mr. Numbers made a striking observation.

"You have no idea how to play chess, do you?" Mr. Numbers asked.

"I don't know much about strategy," Ibarai admitted. "I do know how the pieces move, though."

"Are you sure? Because your moves say otherwise. The only ones you're using to their full potential are the pawns and the king," Mr. Numbers pointed out.

"Sometimes a piece must make some bad moves in order to make good ones," Ibarai said.

"I presume you have an explanation to go with that statement. By all means proceed."

"All right," Ibarai said, picking up a piece. "Take this rook for example. It's quite the powerhouse when you think about it: unstoppable, yet limited in its movements. All it can do is charge blindly forward or to the side."

"Correct," Mr. Numbers said.

"But what if this rook were defective somehow? What if it could only move forward, if it didn't have the ability to go side to side? That weakness would limit its movements tremendously, leaving the rest of my army vulnerable and exposed."

"That is true, but only in a purely academic sense. A rook is used by the player wielding it, so it cannot be defective. Your rook can move side to side, and is not broken, so start using it correctly," Mr. Numbers retorted.

"Let's say that it was," Ibarai continued. "Just for the sake of argument. Now, as the person controlling this army, should my first priority be charging blindly forward despite my weakness, or would it be fixing my rook?"

Mr. Numbers said nothing for a moment, then moved his knight and took another of Ibarai's pawns.

"You know an oddly large amount about human psychology for a girl who has lived in the woods," Mr. Numbers observed.

"Maybe," Ibarai acquiesced. "But have you ever wondered what I did out there in the silence?"

"Ate gophers?"

"Actually yes, but that's not what I meant," Ibarai said. "I spent those years growing up, and bonding with nature, the animals and plants. I read psychology books and watched television, all to put the various traits and similarities into perspective. Think of it as intensive training in dealing with humanity through linking them to nature."

"An interesting pastime," Mr. Numbers said. "Also, checkmate."

"Good game," Ibarai said with a smile. "We should play again next weekend. Maybe I'll learn a little about strategy from battling you."

"I don't think you'll improve that much playing only one game a week," Mr. Numbers told her.

"Probably not, but at least by next week my rook should be in working order."

"This is a match for ranking," said the crackling pre-recorded voice of Dean Blaine through the speaker box. "As such, the only ways to win are to incapacitate your opponent or force him to give up. Should serious injury occur, the match will be stopped while the injury is reviewed and it is determined if the student can continue.

"Everyone do your best!"

The last line felt a touch out of place as Hitoshi and Shoto stared at each other from across their combat cell. The referee was watching from his post through the thickened window, along with Mr. Transport, a girl in grey who was presumably a healer, and Fumikage. For Hitoshi, though, none of those people mattered.

The only one of consequence was looking unconcerned and removing the jacket from his uniform, revealing a tank top scarcely hiding the chiseled physique underneath it. Shoto let his arms dangle at his sides, then gave the referee the nod that he was ready.

Hitoshi followed suit, and a husky male voice bellowed through the speaker.

"Begin!"

Hitoshi stood the staring at Shoto waiting to see what he would do. "You know, I expected you to be more of a guns blazing type" Hitoshi called with a smirk. "With such a powerful and flashy quirk"

Shoto just stared, before lifting up his right hand and sending out a wave of ice shooting towards Hitoshi.

Hitoshi had to jump out the way rolling with the momentum "The silent type huh, or are you too afraid to talk" Hitoshi tried to bait Shoto, but instaid he go another wave of ice coming his way.

Damn it was getting cold, Hitoshi rubbed his arms.

"This is pointless," Shoto said "Walk away, Shinso" Shoto sighed. "You've stepped into a league you're not ready for, and I find no joy beating the weak"

"Fuck you I'm not weak!" Hitoshi yelled, if he couldn't get him to banter then he would just have to get close. If he could hurt shoto he would be forced to talk and fall under his control. Hitoshi charged forward.

Shoto notice rush and moved quickly, shoto spun around Hitoshi's first swing, grabbing the extended arm Shoto flipped Hitoshi onto a bed of ice. The ice quickly covered Hitoshi till only his nose and up were free.

"You are a mess. You telegraph your movements so clearly that anyone with a bit of training can read them. You swing wild, focusing on power you don't have instead of precision, and you have literally no guard nor reflexes designed to block." Shoto said as Hitoshi blinked to clear his eyes.

Hitoshi glared, shoto had been blessed with such a strong quirk, of course he couldn't win if he didn't talk. "You're quirk is powerful but it has a very easy weakness, your opponent has to speak. And as I just showed you, there is a time limit between what you say and how long before your opponent to talk without worry" Shoto laid out.

Hitoshi was trying to say something, and apparently the match had not been ended yet.

The snap of a kick was all the warning he had before he felt impact and the sensation of broken ribs. In what seemed like less than a second, Shoto had utterly destroyed him.

"One last thing about my Quirk," Shoto stared down at Hitoshi. "It is an inheritance from my mother and father." Shoto raised his leg until his foot was over his shoulder,"and this was just half of it" then brought it crashing down on Hitoshi's head.

* * *

There you have it a little bit of action to hopefully raise a few eyebrows. As i said before please read and review.


	15. Chapter 15

This is a fan made fic. I do not own ether my hero academia or super powereds, in fact you should go and read both when you get the chance.

* * *

"I must admit, I did not see this coming," Mr. Transport remarked.

"I did, eventually," Mr. Numbers admitted. "Though this is far sooner than I expected."

The duo was standing outside of the recovery ward where Hitoshi was asleep. Mr. Transport had gone and fetched Mr. Numbers while Hitoshi was being tended to by the healer on duty.

Thanks to the swift healing, he would be fine.

Truthfully, this was, to someone with his power, A eye opener. It hurt badly when it happened, but there was relatively little actual damage left.

"So Ibarai coaxed him into it somehow," Mr. Transport said in curiosity. Mr. Numbers had filled in Mr. Transport on the game of chess they had played during Hitoshi's fight and the conversation that had occurred within it.

"It would appear that way," Mr. Numbers confirmed. "In all fairness, Hitoshi is hardly the most difficult member of our dormitory to manipulate. Ironic taking his quirk into consideration"

"Agreed," Mr. Transport said. "Still, she did an excellent job of tearing down his pride. She talked him into fighting someone she knew would win, who also saw the same weakness as her and exploited it."

Mr. Numbers nodded his agreement. "Hitoshi would never accept that his quirk had a weakness let alone one that a melee fighter could capitalize on, this should be quite humbling ."

"I imagine there is another stage to this plan," Mr. Transport speculated.

"Certainly," Mr. Numbers confirmed. "But it's time for us to start moving proactively on our own. Contact the dean and humbly request to put our new idea into action.

Much as I may dislike the way she did it, Ibarai was correct in what she told me. Right now we're dealing with pieces that don't yet see their full potential; they're reined in by their own perceived limitations."

"How do we help them with those?" Mr. Transport asked.

"For now we delegate and see how Ibarai does at handling it. If she proves unable, we will step in as needed. Our concern is not to help them with their personal demons right now; it's to get them to start looking at each other as a team, or at least as mutual assets," Mr. Numbers answered.

"We need them to have a group mentality, and the sooner we achieve that, the more effective it will be."

"You're right," Mr. Transport agreed. "I do wonder if this incident will sow any dissent in the group, though. After all, Ibarai did essentially trick one of the team into being mercilessly beaten."

"Yes, but it was the member no one clicked with," Mr. Numbers pointed out. "How this is perceived by the group depends on her actions and their effects from this point on. Hopefully she has a good plan in place."

* * *

"I feel like shit," Hitoshi said as he stirred in one of the oh-so-very uncomfortable recovery room beds.

"you were beaten pretty severely," Ibarai said from her vigilant perch on a stool next to the bed. She had never left Hitoshi's side since he was brought here.

"Don't remind me," Hitoshi said, pulling himself up to a sitting position. "That last kick was overkill."

"Yes indeed," Ibarai agreed. "They removed all the physical damage, though. What you're feeling now is essentially residual impulses from the nerves that know there should be pain and recovery in a certain area, even though there isn't."

" I'm not complaining," Hitoshi waved her off. "Compared to what he did to me, this is some pretty minor soreness."

"Yes... well... I'm sorry about that," Ibarai said slowly. "I knew it would be rough, but it was the only way."

Hitoshi leaned forward a bit, staring at her in her deep green eyes as if trying to read her mind. "whatever. You gave me ample warning about what would happen. I guess I was too stubborn to and prideful listen, this is what you were hoping for. I mean, I lost the bet."

"I know," Ibarai said with a small nod of the head. "That doesn't always make it the easy thing though. I hate seeing people get hurt."

"Could have fooled me" Hitoshi replied stretching. "I assume you have some sort of plan now that I have to help you?"

"Oh yes, indeed I do," Ibarai said, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Now listen up, you arrogant fool, because I'm not repeating myself. So let's go over just what you'll be doing for the rest of the year."

Hitoshi gulped and paled just a little bit more, the tone of her voice and the glint in her eye compelled him listen. Later on, when Hitoshi would remembered this conversation, he would reflect that Ibarai was not someone to cross.

* * *

"Welcome, class. If you would take your seats quickly; today we have much to cover," Dean Blaine said as the students filed into Tuesday's Ethics of Heroism class.

Dex moved briskly, taking his seat and sliding into his usual defensive posture. It said that he was bored, but not so much so that he wasn't paying attention. It conveyed respect without conveying interest, and all in all served the purpose of making him blend into the sea of faces.

Dex might have been considered lacking by some in the power department, but the skills he did possess were honed and polished. Sitting comfortably in his cocoon of apathetic camouflage, Dex allowed his eyes to wander around the room.

He hadn't seen much of his dorm mates this weekend, but then again, he'd spent a lot of time working on a business model for one of his real life classes. Of course he had heard about Hitoshi's sounding defeat at Todoroki's hands - that one had spread like wildfire - but he hadn't had a chance to catch up on the nitty-gritty.

As for Izuku, he hadn't come home until Sunday night, and despite Dex's respectable arsenal of wheedling techniques had Izuku had refused to give any details of his weekend…. More like he walked in, blushed like a tomato, and locked himself in his room the rest of the weekend. Not that Dex couldn't string things together on his own, but it was always so much more satisfying to coax a secret from someone's lips.

"Class," Dean Blaine said once everyone was sitting in their chairs. "Today I introduce you to what will ultimately culminate in the grade for your mid-term exam."

Dex could actually hear necks pop as they swiveled forward in a sudden burst of attention. "You will all be participating in research projects, and in one month you will make a presentation to the class as well as turning in a twenty-page paper."

"I thought we weren't going to have papers in this class?" The speaker was the girl with bushy pink hair, or Mina Ashido as Dex had learned since the first day of class. In all the weeks since then, she had never raised her hand once when asking a question, driving Momo to look annoyed but not even denting Dean Blaine's plastered-on grin.

Well, that was usually the case at any rate. Today Mina's question triggered a slight twitch in Dean Blaine's right cheek. Dex was confident no one else would have noticed it, but to him it was plain as day. That meant he wasn't as sure-footed on the topic of this project, or that there was something about it that made him uncomfortable.

It wasn't much, and Dex wasn't sure what to do with it, but it was something and something didn't mean nothing. Dex trained his complete attention on the now-speaking dean.

"That is usually the case," Dean Blaine replied, no trace of the tremor from his face audible in his voice. "However, this is something of a special project. It will be a team project, one to help you all branch out and better get to know your fellow classmates. It will be on the full career of a Hero from the list I'll be hanging on the board. I want you to trace them from their training, their career path, and their retirement. Yes, Yaoyorozu?"

Momo's hand had been up since halfway through the dean's explanation, and it seemed she was a few seconds short of waving it around like an elementary school student to demand his attention.

"How is this applicable from an ethics standpoint? This seems more like a history project."

"As I was explaining before you put your hand up," Dean Blaine replied curtly,

"this project will trace the life of a famous Hero. While I do want you to spend some time discussing the major events in their life, the real purpose of this project is to look over some of their exploits from a more personal level. Look at some of the foes they dealt with and some of the battles they lost. Your goal is to help me, and the rest of your class, understand the motivations and complications of the person behind the mask."

"How does that help us with ethics?" Mina belted from the back of the room once more.

"Think of it as advanced preparation. I want you to see what these people went through, because a Hero's life is often fraught with hard choices and living with the consequences of them. By digging deep and understanding choices that past Heroes have made, I hope you will ask yourself what decisions you would have made in similar circumstances," Dean Blaine explained.

"Because one day, those life and death decisions could be on your shoulders, and its best to start preparing for them sooner rather than later."

Dean Blaine braced himself for more questions as his explanation finished, but the somber subject matter seemed to have cowed even Mina. It wasn't surprising; after all, when one thought about becoming a Hero, one usually focused on the glory and pride that came with defending the innocent.

Rarely did people stop and consider the responsibility that came along with the job when deciding the direction into which to punch a villain could result in a building full of people losing their lives.

"Okay then," Dean Blaine said, making a snap judgment to steer the thoughts of his class toward less chilling waters. "I'll now announce the pairs for the projects. You will have the rest of the class to discuss possible Heroes from the list I'll be posting in a minute, and the two of you have until the end of the week to let me know your pick. Don't hesitate, though; they are first come, first serve, and each Hero may only be done by one team."

Dean Blaine produced a piece of paper and began calling out pairs of students.

As each team was named the duo would rise from their seats and flag each other down from their respective positions, stopping only when one relocated to the other's area.

Dex tried not to center too much on disappointment. If the list was already chosen then he couldn't use his power to spy on who was with who. If he had known and saw who the dean was planning on sticking him with he could prepare accordingly . But can't prep without knowing what you are prepping for.

It would have been beneficial for Dex to land on Hitoshi or Izuku's team and solidify the sense of friendship he had been crafting with Izuku or in Hitoshi's case build a relationship them, but as Hitoshi was announced to be paired with someone named Denki and Izuku was put with Kai Hatsume, it became clear that Dex would be expanding his social circle.

It could be worse, though; increased connections were rarely a bad thing.

"Next team," Dean Blaine announced. "Dexter Ebony and Momo Yaoyorozu."

"At least it's not a telepath," Dex mumbled under his breath. Humorously enough, Momo was muttering something from her own desk across the room.

The two began the dance of waving, determining who would move over to the other's area, neither one particularly excited about their partner but each confident they hadn't gotten the shortest stick in the room.

Many might have believed that dubious honor went to Hitoshi, who drew up a seat next to his new partner.

"Yo," Hitoshi said. "I'm Hitoshi Shinso."

"Oh, I know," said the blonde-haired boy. "I heard all about the fight this weekend. Names Kaminari ."

"Nice to meet you, Denki," Hitoshi said in a bored tone, obviously not meaning it. "So, I guess you already know about me then?"

"Totally," Denki said, nodding enthusiastically. "Seems like an awesome ability, making people do what ever you say."

"It's... not as great as one might suspect," Hitoshi said delicately. He was hesitant to take praise at the moment. That fight had done more than humble him, it made him question his quirk and if it were good enough to become a hero with.

"It can be fun, for pranks, and it's rarely boring. What about you? What's your Quirk?"

"Mine is super cool!" Denki replied. "I'm basically a stun gun to the max."

* * *

"Looks like we got Rumi Usagiyama!," Izuku said excitedly , striding into the library and depositing his books on a small table occupied by a short boy wearing glasses.

"That's great!" Kai, also known as the short boy wearing glasses, exclaimed. "I thought for sure someone would have beaten us to her."

"When I spoke with the dean he told me we were the third team to make our selection," Izuku grinned, taking his seat and spreading out the books. "I guess the others are taking their sweet time in picking a subject." Izuku didn't have to take his time, he had known about every hero on the list.

"Who else had been chosen?" Kai asked as he unloaded the contents of his own backpack onto the table, cluttering it even further.

"Apparently Fumikage and some Kyoka girl took Captain Starlight, and Gang Orca was chosen by guys named Tetsutsu and Neito," Izuku recounted.

Fortunately there hadn't been many names on the sign-up sheet, so the few that were present were easy to recall.

"Oh, I know Tetsutsu," Kai said. "He and I are in the same physics class together above ground. Good guy, not the smartest around. No one else though, huh? I was sure that Momo girl who is always asking questions would be first in line."

"That's a fair assumption," Izuku admitted. "She's working with Dex, though. I don't think they exactly dislike one another, but they never seem to talk much. Then again, I don't think any of us really talk a lot with Momo except in passing."

"She doesn't seem like she would lack social skills," Kai observed.

"She doesn't; really the opposite!" Izuku said waved his arms. "She's always polite and composed. I guess in the whirlwind of the first few weeks we just haven't had time to get to know one another."

"I imagine that's the case with many of us," Kai said. "In fact, it's possible that is why Dean Blaine gave us this project in the first place. It does force us to expand our social circle a bit."

"You might be right," Izuku mumbled. "Though that still doesn't explain what's holding up Momo and Dex on choosing a Hero for their project."

* * *

"I respectfully disagree," Momo said through a mask of patience. "I think Sir Nighteye will make an excellent case of study for our project, and is not a 'bore in a cape' at all."

"Oh, come on," Dex replied, spinning his chair in a circle and staring up at the ceiling.

"Do you know what Sir Nighteye was before he got into the game? A manager for a paper clip company. Seriously, how could he possibly be more boring?"

"Maybe the fact that he was one of the few older men who became certified as a Hero is in itself an interesting story," Momo shot back.

"Great story, that one. He was born in a family that had religious disagreements with the existence of quirks so he was raised to pretend he was quirkless. Then his wife leaves him at thirty, his normal world falls apart and he escapes into a new one, one where he can use his powers to have the fame and respect that eluded him in his younger years," Dex returned.

"That's... well... it's still... fine," Momo was at a loss for words.

The two of them had been at it for some time now, camped out in the common room of Melbrook, Momo making suggestions and Dex spearing holes in them. He had to admit, she'd picked a few that would have actually made exceptional projects, and that was the problem.

Dex didn't want to be exceptional; he wanted to coast though this presentation with a middle-of-the-pack Hero that would earn him a middle-of-the-pack grade. Since Momo didn't know this, though, he was forced to play his character in an alternate direction.

Instead of showing that he wanted an average presentation and grade, Dex was making himself out to be a perfectionist and knocking down any Hero suggestion that wasn't "good enough" for him and Momo to work on.

Dex was also finding a slight bit of amusement in watching Momo vainly try to conceal her mounting frustration. This girl who was so proper was losing her clam and cool front,it was fun watching her get flustered.

"Okay," Momo said after a moment to gather her composure. "Let's see what other options there are." She pulled out the Xeroxed list that Dean Blaine had provided each group, showing which Heroes were available for them to choose from. "How about The K?"

"Retired too young."

"Alphablaster?"

"Honestly? You want us to do a report on someone with vocabulary based powers?"

Momo had to admit, even to her that one seemed pretty bad. "Well, what about Rumi Usagiyama?" Momo asked.

"Perfect," Dex replied.

"Really?"

"Totally,"he confirmed. "But Izuku already texted me and told me that's the one he and his partner got approved to do."

"But... then why didn't you..." Momo began to stammer.

"Oh, relax," Dex assured her. "We'll find someone good."

"Well... well, I'm done!"Momo finally declared, dumping the pages in Dex's lap and stopping his slow circular turning. "You pick the next one and let's see if I think your choice is good enough."

Dex scooped up the pages and pretended to look through them. The truth was, he had memorized this list before he and Momo had even left Dean Blaine's classroom for gym.

It had taken Momo a bit longer to break than he expected, but the disintegration of one's pride was always difficult to apply a realistic time frame to. She'd finally defaulted to the princess he knew lurked inside that socialite façade, though, and that meant he could get a topic chosen and be done with it.

"Gunhead lived an interesting life," Dex remarked offhandedly.

"Interesting enough?" Momo asked, crossing her arms and setting her jaw.

"There's always Lunchrush," Dex ventured once more.

Momo did nothing but raise an eyebrow.

"Okay, look," Dex said in his best I'm-being-humbled-by-this-experience voice.

"It seems like you and I both have different ideas on who we should pick for this project. Agreed?"

Momo slowly nodded her head.

"But the one thing we can both agree on is that if we don't pick someone soon we're likely to end up with nothing but the dregs left as our options," Dex continued the train of thought.

"That's not entirely impossible," Momo acquiesced.

"So, rather than bickering back and forth all day, why don't we try a different method to pick our subject?" Dex asked.

"Just a wild guess here, you already have such a method in mind?" Momo asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That I do," Dex said, breezing right past the accusation in her words. Instead he set the list down on the coffee table and produced a penny from his pocket. "Let's flip a coin on it."

"Like what, heads or tails on each name systematically as a veto system until we narrow it down to one name?"

"No, that would take forever," Dex chided. "I mean literally. I'll flip the penny and whatever name it lands on is the one is we use."

"That is utterly ridiculous, I refuse to leave my grade up to luck." Momo replied without hesitation.

"But it's more productive than fighting all afternoon," Dex pointed out.

"Uh huh," Momo scoffed skeptically.

"Fine,"she said after a calculating pause. "I reserve the right to veto whoever it lands on if I don't like it, though."

"I'll agree to that as long as we look them up and give them a thorough once over," Dex said. Momo gave him the nod, and with sudden dexterity he flipped the small copper coin into the air.

The penny tumbled down onto the list, landing squarely on a single name. Momo and Dex both leaned over and looked down at the printed tucked beneath the coin.

Dex let out a low whistle. "Man, talk about the dregs."

* * *

"So, you're a Electric elemental?" Hitoshi asked.

"Nah, man. Stun gun," Denki said once more. "You know, like the thing cops use when stopping bad guys." The two of them were in a cafeteria getting dinner and discussing options for their project.

In the course of the day Hitoshi had found that he had a surprising amount in common with his new project partner, including a love of sci-fi, video games, and vintage comic books. Though normally Hitoshi would deny such interest.

The one sticking point he kept coming back to was Denki's power, or at least Denki's description of the power.

"You can generate electricity , and shook those around you, right?" Hitoshi asked.

"I know this sounds crazy, but to me it feels like I call the electricity,

not make it. Other than that you're pretty close," Denki agreed with a cheerful head nod. "Plus I can sort of overload myself."

"you mean you short- circuit? Sounds like a drag?" Hitoshi said taking a bite of his burger .

"Yeah. I can't go over a certain voltage," Denki confirmed.

"That doesn't seem like a elemental at all," Hitoshi noted.

"thats because I'm not one, I call on the power from somewhere and use it," Denki said once more, not forcefully, instead with a sense of deep conviction and confidence.

So there it was. Denki considered his powers to work as though he were a conductor and would not budge one bit on the topic. It was an oddity. It seemed likely that state of mind and perception were important for someone whose powers were linked to a element.

"A conductor huh? Weird," Hitoshi said, picking up the ketchup for his fries. "Anyway, who do you think we should do our project over?""

Please read and review and thank you to those who fav and follow my story


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer I do not own the rights to MHA or Super Powereds this is fan made.

* * *

"Oh dear," Kai said, gazing at the glowing screen of his cell phone. "It seems I'll have to cut our study session short today."

"That's fine,"Izuku assured him. "I think we got a lot of good material for the project so far. I'll do a little more work and we can pick up again tomorrow."

"I appreciate your understanding," Kai said with a smile. He reached across the table and began scooping books and notes into his backpack.

"Did something come up?" Izuku couldn't stop himself from asking.

"You could say that. It seems my sister has been challenged to a ranking match, so I feel a bit compelled to be there in support," Kai explained.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Izuku commented, packing away his own things.

If Kai was heading out Izuku felt he may as well do the same. He could get back above ground, grab some dinner, maybe even see Itsuka for a bit before he tackled the rest of his work for the evening.

"Her name is Mai. It is purely speculation, but I've always believed our parents must have been sadists to give twins rhyming names," Kai said.

"It's not really that bad," Izuku lied. Kai stopped packing, looked Izuku in the eyes, and stared. "Okay, it's pretty bad," Izuku said, blushing and breaking after mere seconds.

"I know," Kai said simply, readying himself to leave. Izuku was about finished as well, so they exited the library together and began walking toward the lifts and combat cells. The two had been holed up in the underground library, which was similar to the one on the regular campus but stocked with a somewhat different selection of reading material.

Very few normal UA students found themselves in need of books on how to deal with radioactive fallout or study ancient war formation techniques. In the HCP such things were considered required reading.

"Sooo," Izuku said, awkwardness and a poor understanding of social convention forcing him to make small talk. "What are your sister's abilities?"

"She manipulates technology," Kai answered.

"Like, she can turn on cars, or like she can become the Internet?"

"Somewhere in between," Kai chuckled. "She can interface with software, but only to a limited point. If you asked her to type on a computer without her hands, or drive a car from a block away, those things would be in her arsenal. Asking her to hack into a army base would be well out of her reach, though. It's likes she talks to the machines and asks them nicely to cooperate."

"That seems pretty useful," Izuku said. "As long as you have plenty of tech around."

"At that point having a brother whose power is mechanical genius comes in rather handy," Kai said.

"Yeah, I've seen some of the stuff you use in class. The self-writing pen is awesome!," Izuku gushed.

Kai shrugged. "It frees up my hands and lets me get written notes. The hardest part was designing it so it could balance continuously on the tip while moving."

"I bet," Izuku agreed. "So with you building her gadgets and her being able to use them with a thought, I bet your sister is one amazing fighter."

"She's good, but there are plenty better," Kai admitted. "She only came in fourteenth in the initial ranking. Of course, as the gear I build for her improves and she learns to fight more effectively, I expect to see a significant rise in her ranks over the years."

"I'm sure you will," Izuku encouraged. "What about your rank, though?"

"I'm not combat compatible," Kai replied with open honesty. "I can build things ahead of the technological curve. There are some who don't even believe that should count me as a heros quirk. I'll certainly never be able to match what the others can do on the front line of battle. I'll have my uses, though; they just won't be gauged on how well I throw a punch."

"If you're focused on the rhino charging at you, you're likely to miss the panther sneaking up on your rear," Izuku said in encouragement.

Kai raised his eyebrows curiously.

"It's something my Sensei used to say. It meant I should learn to use misdirection and keep myself aware at all times, but it seemed sort of applicable to your situation," Izuku explained.

"Just because you aren't a thick-skinned muscle-bound monster doesn't mean you aren't dangerous."

"True," Kai said slowly. "Although I still feel my place on the battlefield is supporting others in the background."

"Maybe it is," Izuku agreed. "All that really matters is that you're happy with what you're doing and where you're going."

"And I am," Kai said as they walked into the central hall. Izuku saw the lifts at the south end and readied himself to head back above ground. Before he left, though, a question struck him.

"I hope your sister does well today," Izuku said. "Who is she fighting, anyway?"

"One of the girls she shares a suite with. A friend named Itsuka," Kai told him.

"She has orange hair and enlarging hands. Very difficult to miss."

Izuku was in whole-hearted agreement as he changed his oriented direction and began walking next to Kai once more, mind already racing ahead of him to the fight that was beginning in the combat cells.

Since Izuku had first met Itsuka that day in the infirmary she had been perpetually light-hearted. Her emotional range seemed to consist of sassy, flirty, and spunky. This wasn't to say she never had her down moments, just that she seemed to carry everything, even sadness, with a strange sense of cheerful apathy.

As though nothing mattered too much, like none of it could really touch her. The girl Izuku was gazing at through the observation window looked nothing like the one he had grown close to over the previous weeks. Oh, her face and hair were the same, as was her uniform, but the girl herself was utterly different.

Gone was the smirk hidden in the angles of her face, the carefree posture, and the easy manner with which she moved. Her eyes were hard now, and focused. Every step she took as she and her opponent positioned themselves for the fight to come was calculated, careful, and delicate.

It struck a memory within Izuku of when he and his sensei had snuck into a zoo and Izuku had gotten to see a pair of tigers. Itsuka shared their same rippling gait, smooth and deliberate but at any moment able to attack.

The other girl in the cell, Mai, didn't seem to be taking things any lighter. She was a girl of medium height with with long pink locked hair. Instead of the standard uniform, Mai was sporting something that looked a lot like a one-piece flight suit, except with baubles and electronics bulging out at random intervals.

As the girls moved to their starting sides of the cell, Mai took a helmet she had carried in her arms and slipped it over her head, obscuring any sign of her face behind a black visor. Outside gear had to approved, but so long as it corresponded to your power, it was permitted in official matches.

"I see they're taking each other quite seriously," Kai commented. He and Izuku were standing together to watch the fight, making sure to give the referee and a small busty girl who was presumably the healer ample room in which to act if necessary.

"Yeah," Izuku agreed. "They are."

"So, Itsuka is your girlfriend?" Kai asked bluntly. If either one had been paying more attention they might have noticed the sudden swivel of the small girl's head toward their direction. Both had eyes only for what was on the other side of the glass, though, so her action went unobserved.

"Sort of. We haven't really talked about it or anything, but... maybe, I think," Izuku mumbled face flushed with embarrassment.

"I hope that we can maintain our affable partnership, regardless of the outcome of this fight," Kai said.

Izuku hesitated, blinking a bit before he answered. "You think Mai's going to win, don't you?"

"I don't know," Kai replied. "I built the suit she's wearing, and I am very well informed of my sister's capabilities in combat, but when dealing with fight, nothing is written in stone."

As the girls readied themselves, waiting for the referee's signal to start, Izuku silently agreed with Kai. Both of them seemed intensely focused on this match, and he didn't know which of them would be walking away from it. He doubted they did either.

"I don't have to take this personally if you don't," Izuku said. "After all, this isn't a squabble; they're trying themselves against one another as warriors. Whoever loses, there's no shame here."

"Agreed," Kai said. "Though I'd keep that little theory away from whichever actually does lose."

"Duh," Izuku said with a nod of his head. Izuku was young, foolhardy, and ambitious. That didn't make him utterly idiotic, though.

The referee pressed a small button and the dean's recorded voice began to play from within the cell. When it concluded, their match would begin. "Be ready," he said to the small girl at his side. "This one could easily end messy."

* * *

Itsuka adjusted her footing without taking her eyes off Mai. The proverbial bell had been rung, yet both of them stood steady, neither rushing forward to make the first move.

Itsuka adjusted again, wishing dearly that Mai's head wasn't hidden behind a helmet and visor. It wasn't that Itsuka was so cutthroat that she would have gone for the face or the eyes (not to say that she wouldn't, though), it was that blocking the face took away a lot of unconscious tells.

Eye movements, facial tics, even nostril flaring could often be that little extra advantage that meant the difference between a win and a loss.

Itsuka took a step forward, then one back, gauging Mai's reaction. Her opponent moved back a hair, but otherwise kept her same stance. So that meant Mai was playing defensive, waiting for Sasha to make the first move. It was the smart play, the one Itsuka would have made if the roles were reversed.

Charging someone who could grow parts of their body was a good way to go down fast. You fully commit to an attack, and before you realize it they've grown and turned your own momentum against you.

It seemed Itsuka was stuck on the offensive. That was okay, though; it was the area she was the most comfortable in anyway. Choosing an angle, Itsuka kicked off a foot and jetted towards Mai as fast as she could move.

She had to me careful, if she got to close Mai may be able to counter with some kind of gizmo or what not. Itsuka had to play this smart and catch Mai off guard.

It wasn't ideal, but Itsuka had picked this partner. She'd issued this challenge. It would move her up five ranks, into the range where she'd be eligible for combat.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly betraying her intention to attack. It didn't matter. If Mai could keep up, then she would; if she couldn't, then no amount of warning from Itsuka would make the difference. It escaped her own thoughts that mere moments earlier she had been thinking about the advantages of reading facial tics, but before that realization could bob to the surface of her mind she nearing her opponent. Itsuka threw he fist out in a jab, growing it half way though the motion. She let the giant fist carry her as it gained momentum, now the size of Mai's body is she hit it would end the match for her.

Mai quickly jumped to the side of the fist letting it fly past her into the wall. Mai quickly threw up her arms blocking the normal sized fist the came flying from the shadow of the large on. A distraction, it was a good tactic but Mai was ready for it. Itsuka began raining quick strikes into Mai's sides. From anyone watching it would seem Itsuka was dominating this fight, but the frustrated look on her face said otherwise.

Itsuka growled, she was getting hits in but they weren't good enough. Mai was barely blocking the blows and what she didn't block her suit took the hit. Itsuka was getting ready to try and kick Mai's legs from under her when she saw the others girls arm began to glow.

Jumping back Itsuka saw a barrel open on Mai's arm and a beam shot out hitting Itsuka in the chest, knocking her back and the wind from her lungs. Mai moved to capitalize on the attack but Itsuka threw a hand up and it grew into a large palm blocking her from view.

Mai waited not sure what use the beam would be ageist the giant hand, that was her mistake because before she knew what was happening a second large palm flew from around the first and slapped her like a bug!

Mai went sailing through the air and into the wall hard, struggling to her feet she was grabbed by both of Itsuka's giant hands and held there, captured.

"Its over I win, give up" Itsuka said breath hard but grinning non the less.

Unfortunately that's when Itsuka's time ran out. That next millisecond, you see, was when the pain started.

* * *

"What happened?" Izuku cried as Itsuka violently flew back from Mai and into the concrete wall. Hands reverting back to normal.

"She electrified her suit at the moment of impact, giving your girl a devastating shock," Kai said, his voice even but his tone not entirely hiding the distress he felt in his own stomach.

"She can do that?" Izuku asked, eyes on Itsuka's crumpled, twitching form.

"It was the only option she ever really had,"Kai confirmed. "Itsuka was too strong and skilled for Mai to have a hope of hitting her with any other kind of weapon. The best bet she had was to use herself as bait and strike when Itsuka made contact. It was a good idea, but it wasn't without its risks."

For the first time Izuku let his eyes move away from Itsuka and back to her opponent. Mai was hunched over; he could tell from the movement of her back she was breathing with arduous labor.

"My sister put all of the suit's power into that jolt," Kai continued.

"That means the electronic shields and dampeners were shut down. She took Itsuka's crushing attack full on and left herself completely vulnerable."

"I think her ribs are broken," Izuku noted, a fresh note of empathic concern in his voice.

"At the least. She has no physical powers, so those blows affected her just like any other human. She should be okay for now, but I'd be distressed if the end of this match weren't in sight," Kai admitted, gesturing to the referee.

Izuku looked over, and realized the referee was methodically counting down from ten, eyes locked on Itsuka's fallen form. If she couldn't get up before zero, this bout would be over and the girls could get healed.

Izuku actually felt a rush of relief as the referee dropped past the count of three. It sucked that Itsuka lost, but right now his mind was solely fixated on getting to her and making sure she was okay.

When the referee's hand struck the number two, though, the counting stopped. If that hadn't told him enough, the gasp from Kai made the picture clear before Izuku could turn to the window and see it.

Sure enough, Itsuka was clawing her way up the concrete wall with one hand, slowly dragging herself vertical. The significance of this wasn't lost on anyone watching, least of all her opponent.

Without hesitation Mai threw her hands up, signaling her surrender and the end of the match. With twin sighs of relief, Izuku and Kai bounded down the stairs to the door, eager to make sure everyone was all right.

* * *

So i Like to think I'm getting a little better with the fight scenes tell me what you think, like always thinks for reading and please leave a little feed back or just your thoughts.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone thanks for reading this far! I'm still working on getting everyone together! I'm excited that a have some follows and favorites! If anyone is interested in being a Beta reader I could use one, just to get some more feed back.

anyway disclaimer: I do not own MHA or Super Powereds please support the series if you are enjoying this.

* * *

"I heard through the grapevine that Kendo advanced her ranking this week," Mr. Numbers said as he moved his knight.

"Are we calling the weekly logs you get of all combat trials 'the grapevine' now?" Ibarai asked as she began contemplating her next move.

"Touché," Mr. Numbers replied. The two were sitting in the common room early Saturday morning. Thus far they were the only two up and around, save for Mr. Transport, who was off running errands. As soon as Mr. Numbers had stepped out of his room Ibarai had been waiting, chessboard in hand.

So, after a cup of coffee, Mr. Numbers accepted her challenge and the duo began their second game of chess. Mr. Numbers took a sip of his coffee as Ibarai made her next move.

"I notice you're using both rooks normally this time," he commented.

"He's been fixed," Ibarai answered to the unasked question. "Nothing will get in it's way now"

"Has he now," Mr. Numbers mumbled, measuring the board to plan his retaliation.

"I also heard through the grapevine that Shinso's attitude has improved tremendously since his bout with Todoroki. It seems he is getting along with others better. The only curious habit is that whenever he is running he makes strange hand motions."

"Motions similar to the ones learned in the foundation of a martial art? Say, ones that a person might work on constantly if they were trying to ingrain the movements as reflex in their brain, for example?" Ibarai asked.

"Precisely those," Mr. Numbers confirmed.

"How odd," Ibarai said neutrally. "It's your move."

"I'm aware," Mr. Numbers said, shifting one of his pawns. "So I take it you and your dorm mates will be meeting up with your partners to work on your projects today?"

"Hitoshi might; he told me that he and Denki have been eating together ever since they were paired up," Ibarai said. "If I recall correctly, Izuku and Dex mentioned something about spending the day watching a movie marathon in the boys' lounge, then Izuku said he is celebrating Itsuka's victory with her tonight."

"You seem very well-informed of your dorm mates' plans. And Momo?"

"Momo is probably going to contemplate many options, then ultimately spend her day sulking at the fact that she has no one to spend time with, despite that fact that her own fear of intimacy with others is the driving force behind that fact," Ibarai told him, moving her queen.

"You could always try to break through that fear and befriend her," Mr. Numbers pointed out. It was almost scary how she was able to read people sometimes.

"I could. Though by doing so she wouldn't be growing out of her fear of close bonds, from what I gather she hadn't had many chances to be herself around others her age. Always the perfect heiress," Ibarai said.

"I see," Mr. Numbers said, moving his knight once more in order to set a trap.

"So, which chess piece will you be fixing next?"

"Well, the others are a bit more complicated," Ibarai responded.

"The bishop is easily as strong as the rook, albeit in a different way, but unlike the rook the bishop is afraid of his own strength." she placed a finger on said piece.

"The knight doesn't understand that just because she isn't as outwardly dangerous as the other pieces doesn't mean she is useless. And of course the king doesn't see that his role is as a strategist, maybe even a leader; instead he is stuck on the perception of himself as vulnerable and weaker than anyone else on the board." Ibarai moved her king to illustrate the point, going only back and forth along the rear row as she had throughout the entire game. All her time in the woods Ibarai spent reading psychology books gave are insight on the thoughts and traits of others.

"And the queen?" Mr. Numbers asked as he repressed at smile at Ibarai moving directly into his trap. She was an utter amateur, but a part of him still took a beat of pride away from every victory, regardless of its challenge or relevance.

"The queen is a very powerful piece," Ibarai said. "But she's not so strong that she can stand against the other army by herself."

"Indeed," Mr. Numbers agreed. "Checkmate."

"So it is," Ibarai noted. "Next week?"

"Not in the mood for another?"

"One total loss a week is all I can handle, I'm afraid," Ibarai said with a soft smile. "Besides, I think the rest of my day just became a lot fuller." she spoke looking to the door of the girls rooms.

* * *

Momo didn't hear Ibarai's declaration; she had already sulked off to her room.

Having woken earlier than usual, Momo was on her way into the common room so she could get water from the kitchen when she realized she could vaguely overhear Mr. Numbers and Ibarai having a conversation. Never one to pass up the opportunity to gather information, Momo planted herself on the other side of the wall and strained to catch every word.

When talk turned to her, though, and Ibarai had called out so perfectly exactly what her plans were and why they involved no other people, Momo all but ran to her bedroom, slamming the door and sitting down on her bed. She had been crying ever since, her feelings battling her against her rationale as she tried to make peace with the things Ibarai had said, a mental tornado that could only settle down on the trailer of one logical conclusion.

By the time Momo reached it, Ibarai had been waiting nearly half an hour to see what she would do.

Two crisp knocks signaled Momo's arrival at Ibarai's door. Ibarai got up from her bed slowly and walked over to answer it. Of course, she could have just waited outside in the girls' lobby, but she had hope that Momo would come to see her. Momo didn't need to announce herself, the door opened via vines.

Ibarai just sat on her bed, she would let Momo speak her mind; after all, Momo was here to offer something of an olive branch, she didn't look angry so Ibarai was hoping this would be a nice conversation.

"Yes?" Ibarai said

"I'm heading into town today for some light shopping and lunch. Would you like to come along?" Momo asked, not without a slight stutter in her voice.

"I'd love to," Ibarai replied with a warm grin. She stepped out and closed the door firmly behind her. "When do we leave?"

"Immediately," Momo said, letting out a breath of air, she smiled pretty. She hated to admit it but Ibarai had been right about Momo avoiding her and about her having trouble connecting with people at college, but Ibarai had not accounted of one thing.

The fact that Ibarai had been basing her deduction on Momo's actions or that it was a completely logical conclusion became utterly irrelevant in the face of one all-consuming truth that had burned its way through Momo's wounded pride and hidden shame.

But that truth was simply this: No one told Momo Yaoyorozu what she was or wasn't able to do.

"Let's hurry," Momo said. "The restaurant I'd like to visit fills up very early for lunch, so it's best if we're there as soon as possible."

"Of course," Ibarai nodded in agreement.

* * *

"So what's on first?" Izuku asked as he stepped into the boys' lounge, fresh bowl of popcorn in one hand and a pair of sodas in the other.

"Zombie Prince 4, War Zombies 2, Hellsong: The Rise of the Zombie King, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," Dex said from his perch in a recliner, remote in hand and eyes fixed on the slowly loading screen.

"Should I even ask about the last one?"

"Hey man, that's a good film, and it provides excellent insight into the female perception of romance," Dex defended.

Izuku sat down in a recliner next to Dex and put the popcorn on a table between the two, sliding over one soda as well. "I'm not buying it."

"Okay, fine; the girl at the video store was hot, and I didn't want her to think my cinematic taste was one-dimensional," Dex sighed.

"Despite the fact that it clearly is,"Izuku pointed out.

"Hey man, you don't know me entirely. Maybe I like romantic comedies. I could be very multi-layered," Dex said.

Izuku crunched a kernel of popcorn and kicked his seat into the reclined position. "I'll believe it when I see it. So where's Hitoshi, anyway?"

Dex shrugged. "I think he and his project partner were grabbing lunch after doing some work this morning; they said they might stop in."

"Those guys are really determined to do well on that assignment, aren't they?" Izuku asked.

"That or they have nothing better to do," Dex said. "Though I don't see the rush; we've still got weeks left. We should be spending more time thinking about what Halloween costumes we should be saving for or working on."

Izuku snorted. "We're in college; you really think Halloween is still important to anyone, let alone for them to put in effort on a costume?"

* * *

"I'm leaning toward Cleopatra," Momo said as she sipped her espresso delicately.

"Of course, there are a few famous Victorian characters I would enjoy portraying as well, but the drawing point is also the problem. Those gowns are so complex and elegant, and while they would be fun to wear, it would hardly be in the spirit of the holiday at our age."

"How so?" Ibarai asked politely. It had been a bit of a straining day for her so far. The lunch had been delicious and Momo was enjoyable enough company, but Ibarai wasn't used to doing so much… socializing.

This was helping Momo feel more at ease with their time together, but it was at the cost of Ibarai's nerves.

"For girls our age attending a university, the accepted societal convention is that our costumes should be somewhat more... sensual than they were in our younger years," Momo replied.

"So we're supposed to dress slutty?"

"I prefer to think of it as we can get away with doing so judgment free," Momo said, a coy smile creeping across the side of her mouth.

"That is a good point," Ibarai agreed. "Although I don't know if it would fit my style. I was thinking I'd just be a mummy or something."

Momo looked at the girl sitting across the table from her, slowly working her way through a piece of cheesecake, and realized something that had never entered her mind before.

Ibarai was insecure about the way she looked. She'd always been so cheerily bizarre, so oddly confident, and seemed to be three steps ahead of everyone else that it had never occurred to Momo that a girl like Ibarai might suffer from something as mundane as a poor body image.

It wasn't that she was unattractive, either: her emerald eyes were striking, and her wild hair actually seemed to compliment her face. She was petite, too. It was easy to forget with the powerful energy Ibarai seemed to exude, but she was only about five foot two, with a lithe body that matched.

In that moment, discovering her terrifying, invincible plant based neighbor had a weakness, Momo felt something she had never genuinely expected. She felt a spark of a connection to Ibarai.

"A mummy might be fun," Momo said kindly. "I bet we can find something that flatters you more than that, though."

Ibarai raised an eyebrow. "You want to go costume shopping?"

"Why not? I said we would go shopping anyway, and besides, it's early October so the stores should be open. We'll have fun." Momo gave Ibarai a sincere smile, and with a crash Ibarai realized she had just maneuvered herself into spending a Saturday being dressed up like Momo's personal doll.

Ibarai was a firm believer that necessity and duty should trump one's own desires. That said, she still found herself thankful that Momo didn't have telepathy, otherwise all the cursing going on in Ibarai's head might have been a tad difficult to explain.

* * *

Thank you for reading and please leave a review so that i can get a feel of how everyone is enjoying my little story. And anyone interested in the beta position send me a PM.

Thanks again!


	18. Chapter 18

disclaimer: I do not own MHA or Super Powereds this is just a fan made story.

Here's a new chapter for you all, sorry there is no real schedule, just posting whenever. anyway enjoy!

* * *

"Well, gory as that was, I think this is where I call it for the day," Izuku said, rising from his chair and stretching deeply while the ending credits for the previous movie rolled across the screen.

"Ah, come on, we've still got like two more!" Dex protested.

"Don't be a wuss," Hitoshi agreed. Hitoshi and Denki had joined up with them halfway through the first movie, finding the siren song of slacking while watching slasher cinema too alluring to resist in favor of homework.

"And I'm certain they'll be wonderful movies," Izuku placated. "I've got to get heading over to Itsuka's, though, remember? We're celebrating her rise in rank."

"So bring her back," Dex countered. "What better way to celebrate life than to observe those are lacking in it?"

"You want me to congratulate the girl I'm dating on a serious accomplishment by making her watch bad zombie movies?"

"Izuku," Dex began in an offputtingly serious tone, "a woman who won't celebrate with zombie movies isn't a woman you want to keep around. Trust me, that's gospel truth right there."

"Amen," Denki chimed in.

Izuku stared into the sleek lenses of his friend's glasses for a moment, then shook his head and barked out a laugh. "Okay, okay. You guys win; I'll bring it up to her as an option. But if she says no then consider me gone for the night."

"That seems fair, he is already whipped" Hitoshi said.

"Yeah, yeah, fair schmare," Dex said with a wave as he dragged himself out of his own chair. "We may as well get some dinner ourselves while Izuku is applying the zombie barometer to his relationship."

"Zombie barometer? Really?" Izuku asked as the other two stood from their reclined positions to join them.

Dex simply gave a small nod and replied with two words. "Gospel. Truth."

The four hungry young heros in training headed out of the boys' lounge and made a path for the entrance hall, nearly plowing right into Ibarai and Momo as the two girls entered the common room.

"Oh good," Momo said briskly. "I'm glad you're all here. I have something we need to talk about. Just let me go put away our packages." With that, Momo scooped up Ibarai's bags along with her own and moved with surprising swiftness into the girls' lounge.

"Actually, we were sort of heading out," Izuku began calling after her.

"You're staying," said Ibarai with a thou-shalt-not-question-me-for-I've-been stuck-trying-on-clothes-all-day-and-I-am-desperate-to-share-the-pain tone.

Okay, Izuku may not have picked up on all of the subtlety contained in her words, but the gist of it came through.

"I guess we have a few minutes to spare," Izuku acquiesced. Hitoshi and Dex might have had fleeting thoughts of protesting on their own, but one look from Ibarai's weary yet scorching eyes told them quite clearly that they'd be better off minding their own business.

"Um, well, I guess I'll go head over to the dining hall and grab us a table," Denki offered.

"I'm sure you're welcome to stay,"Dex assured him. "I'm equally sure that being able to leave is the privilege in this case, though, so do what you want."

"Yeah, I'll just meet up with you guys after," Denki said, taking in a long stare at Ibarai's haggard stance and making a (wise) snap decision. "Give me a call."

"Will do,"Hitoshi assured him, although he wondered how much longer he would be hanging out. Weekends were his time to go pick up chicks, But since his lost to Todoroki he felt more inclined to train.

Momo emerged a few moments after Denki departed, taking a position at the front of the room and gesturing for the others to sit down around her. She made no comment on Denki leaving, taking it on faith that they had ushered him out the door in a properly diplomatic fashion.

Interestingly enough, it never occurred to her that their method had been forewarning him so he could escape to freedom.

"Now then, I want to talk to you all about Halloween," Momo began once everyone had awkwardly settled in. "Ibarai and I were looking at some costume options today, and it occurred to me that there aren't many celebration options for people in our position."

"Wait, the two of you went shopping? When did I miss that turn in the road?" Dex interrupted.

"Annnnnyway,"Momo continued. "My point is that we aren't old enough to drink at the bars, and it's not like the school has many fun activities. I thought we should talk about some possible options."

"Um, well, I hate to say it, but I really care for Halloween" Hitoshi said.

"That seems like something of an odd choice," Ibarai commented.

"You get to walk around in a costume lacking a shirt and hit on women dressed in far more appealing clothing than they would normally wear, all while hopping from bar to bar finding an endless supply of co-eds," Dex explained.

".…I never thought of it like that," Hitoshi blinked, he had been missing out all these years!.

"Yeah," Izuku said, distracted. The mention of a bar had reminded him of something he'd been curious about the night they had gone to the club.

"Hey Hitoshi, how come you can drink out in public like that? You're the same age as us, so shouldn't that be illegal?"

"hm, I have a fake ID. Given how mature I look, no one ever really questions it when I go out," Hitoshi explained.

"Ahem," Momo said, clearing her throat purposefully. "If we're quite done discussing yet another way that Hitoshi is violating rules, perhaps we can move back to my original point and discuss what we might want to do for Halloween?"

"I've got a better question," Dex said. "Why are you assuming we'll all want to do something together? I mean, we've all done our own thing for the past few weeks and that's been working out pretty well. How about we all just do whatever we want for Halloween?"

There was a beat of silence as Momo used every drop of self-control she had to

keep from blushing. She'd gotten so wrapped up in shopping with Ibarai today, Momo had managed to forget that the rest of her dorm mates were her cohabitants, not really her friends.

With a swift and disproportionate sense of embarrassment, she imagined how silly she must seem, suddenly trying to rally everyone together out of the blue.

Urgently she grasped for anything she could say to gracefully exit the conversation and retreat to her room where she could forget all about this little foray in social expansion.

"We've all been 'doing our own thing' because we were getting acclimated to campus and the program. That doesn't mean we shouldn't consider each other friends. We're all here on the same scholorship and should work to keep each other focused and om the right track so we don't worry about losing it. If that doesn't make us at least connected enough to consult together on holiday plans, then I don't think we'll be bonding and the next four years will be very awkward," Ibarai said sternly.

Dex stared across at her and Ibarai matched his gaze. Many people would have been subtly intimidated by not being able to see Dex's eyes, but for Ibarai it was no concern at all. She didn't need to look into his eyes to get her point across. And Dex knew it.

"Okay, okay," Dex said with a shrug. "It was just a question. So Momo, I assume you had some ideas for what we could do?"

"Oh, um, yes," Momo said, recovering quickly. Outwardly she went through the few options she'd compiled thus far, gauging everyone's reactions to the possible celebrations.

Inwardly, though, she was dealing with the sense of shock and overwhelming gratitude she felt for Ibarai. In all of her life, Momo couldn't think of one time anyone else had stood up for her like that. It was a very novel, very nice sensation.

And somewhere, in the deepest parts of her mind, the mask of friendship she had worn toward the tiny Vine girl became just a few degrees closer to reality.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me! More books? Where are you even finding these things?" Dex wailed as Momo walked into the common room with a pile of books bundled in her arms.

"Yeah, that's the appropriate reaction here, complain about me finding more resources. Don't even pause for a minute to consider helping the lady in need," Momo snapped.

"I'm a proponent of gender equality," Dex shot back. The duo was meeting to work on their group project yet again, though in this case "work" might have been a somewhat loose definition.

It more often consisted of Dex finding ways to occupy himself outside of the subject at hand and Momo berating him for it as her method of research avoidance.

Neither appeared particularly adept at knuckling down for hard work, but as the due date drew closer, Momo found her stress level rising in proportion, so she was determined they make headway with what time they had left.

"Such a gentleman," Momo mumbled as she set the books down and took her seat. She'd tried to maintain her usual implacably polite demeanor for the first week or so, but something about Dex seemed to render her usual defense inaccessible.

"Hey, you're the one that campaigned for it; I'm just respecting your wishes." "If you're granting wishes I'd love for you to pick up a damn book and help me with this. Our presentation is in two more weeks!" Momo said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, but Halloween is in a week and a half, so shouldn't we really be focusing more on what we're going to do costume-wise?" Dex replied.

Momo took a deep breath. "I've already gotten mine prepared, because unlike you, I plan ahead of time. By that same token, I'd also like to plan ahead for what we're going to say when standing in front of the entire freshman class, presenting the entire life of a superhero we know next to nothing about."

"What's to know? I mean, the guy is pretty infamous as is. The guy was considered the strongest hero. He was part of the world's most respected team of Heroes, then one day out of the blue he goes rogue, kills his partner, and gets taken down by the rest of his team. It's one of the most famous stories of any Hero. Do you really think we're going to shed any new light or insight into one of the most speculated-on events of the past century?" Dex asked.

"I think we'd damn sure better try," Momo responded. "We picked this topic, we told Dean Blaine this was the guy we wanted. If we go in there with this report half assed, it reflects horribly on us. Besides, he can't be all that infamous. I've never heard of him."

"Tell me you're joking," Dex said. "You've never heard of All Might the Traitor? He's, like, the favorite cautionary tale of everyone in the hero community. 'Don't grow too full of yourself or you'll end up like All Might.' Your parents never told you about him?"

"I was raised with other educational goals. Besides, since until this year it was never even considered that I might one day become a hero, such cautionary tales would hardly have been necessary. So what happened with him, anyway?" Momo asked.

"I thought you'd been researching him."

"I have," she said defensively. "I simply started with his early life, which was oddly difficult to find information on. I haven't gotten to him joining a team of Heroes yet, let alone betraying them."

"I can try to fill you in," Dex said. "You have to understand that not a whole lot is really known about the details, though. It was a pretty big PR mess for the hero community, and I think a lot of the records were sealed and information was hidden away."

"That might explain why I'm having such trouble finding information about his early life."

"True point," Dex agreed. "Anyway, from what I know, All Might was part of a team of Heroes around fifteen years ago, give or take a few. They were really powerful - I mean, out of the five members, two were considered so strong that it was thought they were Armageddon Class."

"Those are the ones who could actually destroy the world if left unchecked, correct?"

"Bingo," Dex confirmed. "So All Might was one of those two, and the story is that he got a little too full of himself. He felt like he was doing all of the work and carrying his team. Those feelings snowballed over time, and eventually he decided he didn't need them anymore."

"So he quit the team," Momo surmised.

"That's one way to put it. Another would be to say that he murdered Endeavor , one of his teammates, and tried to kill the other three as well before they were eventually able to kill him instead. It was one hell of a resignation letter."

"That's awful," Momo gasped. "He turned on his own team?"

"Even worse, Endeavor was apparently his best friend. The two of them were partners before they joined up with the other three members," Dex added.

"It seems odd, though," Momo remarked. "I mean, I guess I can see growing unhappy with a team, but why not just leave? Why end your relationship in murder?"

"Hence why I said this is one of the most speculated-on events in modern history. It doesn't really make sense; there must have been some other motivations going on behind the scenes. We don't know what they were, though, so the whole thing just ends up being one big head-scratching mystery," Dex said.

"Hmm," Momo said, the wheels turning in her head.

"Maybe we can take an angle of looking at it from the point of view of the rest of the team. My father is well connected, it's possible he could pull some strings and line up a few interviews for it."

"He'd have to be really well connected."

"Just tell me the name of the other team members," Momo said, just a twitch too quickly to pass over Dex's comment nonchalantly.

"We only have their code names, of course," Dex said. "Even in death the identity of a Hero is protected. If memory serves, though, the other team members were Endeavor , the one who was killed, as well was Black Hole and Shimmerpath. There was one more, too."

"We know of two. Is the last one terribly important?" Momo asked.

"Couldn't hurt," Dex replied. "Let me think a second. He had something to do with changing the composition of things."

Momo felt her stomach take a very abrupt and deliberate trip in the southern direction. "You know, Dex, I think we're fine with just these two-"

"The Alchemist!" Dex declared triumphantly. "The fifth member was a man by the name of The Alchemist. Anyway, after All Might went nuts, the team was disbanded and everyone left alive disappeared from the world of heros. Think your dad would be able to find them?"

"I'm unfortunately certain of it," Momo said through gritted teeth.

"My father is Nashi Yaoyorozu, but back in his Hero days, he went by the code name of The Alchemist."

"Ohhh," Dex said as understanding seemed to dawn on him. "Awkwaaaard."

* * *

There we go, surprise! XD please show some love and leave a review.


	19. Chapter 19

"Still no answer," Momo all but swore as she paced the room, snapping her cell phone shut.

"Ain't that always the way? Parents are always calling when you're busy, but the minute you actually need to talk they're nowhere to be found," Dex commented from his sprawled out position on the couch.

"Oh this is just so... so him!" Momo spat out, dropping into a chair with a huff.

"In all fairness to your dad, it's not like he knows you're trying to reach him this hard," Dex said.

"Not that. I mean... well, yes, him being busy and unavailable is classic, too, but I meant the thing with his old teammate. That is just so Daddy," Momo grumbled.

"He makes a habit of helping to kill murderous teammates, huh?"

"Don't be a jackass," Momo snapped. "It's so like him to have this huge part of his life and tell me nothing about it. I mean, I can sort of understand why he might not want to tell me about what happened with All Might: I'm sure that was really traumatic."

" But I never even knew he belonged to a team. I thought he just got his certification and did a little Hero work to help his career. Now it turns out there's yet another part of his life he didn't bother to share with me. The funniest part about this is that as much I want to feel mad, I can't. I can't because I don't even feel surprised by it anymore." Momo let out a long, slow breath, deflating as it exited her lungs.

"I, um, actually sort of know what you mean," Dex ventured cautiously. "Ms. Pips isn't really big on sharing either."

"I thought your last name was Ebony?" Momo asked.

"It is," Dex confirmed. "It was my parents' last name. The woman who raised me is named Ms. Pips, though."

"Oh," Momo said simply, grabbing the implication immediately.

"Yeah,"Dex said, glossing onward. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Ms. Pips and she loves me. A guy couldn't ask for a better godmother. She's just not the type that gushes anything. Feelings, personal history, dreams; really, any of that crap is kept close to the vest. You know, kind of like your dad, or that's how it seems at least."

"It seems right," Momo agreed. "He's a better dad when he's around, but you don't build a multi-billion dollar lifestyle by having lots of free time to hang out with your needy daughter."

"Needy?"

"Not anymore, I guess. Just still sort of think of myself that way. From ages three to eighteen I was starved for attention. That sort of mindset takes a little time to fade," Momo admitted.

"It really does," Dex concurred. "What about your mom? Is she around more?"

"I never actually met my mom," Momo said softly. "She passed away giving birth to me."

"I'm sorry," Dex said reflexively.

"It's okay. It was a long time ago. Besides, I never met her, so it's hard to miss her," Momo reassured him.

Dex pulled himself to a more upright sitting position on the couch and looked across at her. "You're a terrible liar," he said.

"I beg your pardon?" Momo wasn't able to keep the surprise off of her face.

"My parents died in a car accident when I was a few months old. I might have met them, but I have no memory of them at all. I've spent my entire life being raised by Ms. Pips without ever knowing my birth parents. I know too well how easy it is to miss someone you've never met," Dex said.

Momo didn't have a response for that, so instead she fiddled with her phone.

"Going to try your dad again?"

"Doesn't seem like much point to it," Momo replied. "I guess we might as well go back to me nagging and you slacking off."

"Do we have to? I thought we were bonding there for a moment," Dex whined.

"We were, which is why I'm nipping it in the bud," Momo countered. She picked up one of her books and tossed another at Dex. To her credit, she didn't aim too directly for his head, which might have been taken as a sign of fondness.

"Ouch!" Dex yelped.

Then again, maybe not.

* * *

"How did I never realize you two were suitemates?" Izuku asked as he plugged in the movie and rejoined Itsuka and Mai on their couch.

"I do spend a lot of time downstairs training with inventions," Mai said, handing a bowl of popcorn to Itsuka so it was accessible to everyone on the couch.

"Still seems odd. Then again, I still don't know who shares a room with you, so I guess I can't be that surprised," Izuku noted.

"My roommate is a girl named Kyoka. She has an older boyfriend who lives off campus, so she spends most of her free time with him," Mai answered. "It's nice, actually, a bit like having a single room for all my tech."

"Wait, so the other girl, Kyoka, is she like us?"

"Of course, Izuku; they almost always room hero trainees together," Mai giggled.

Izuku had been surprised by her quirky bubbly nature when they'd actually gotten to talk after her and Itsuka's fight. She'd been so cold and hard when in combat; but then again, the same could be said for Itsuka.

More than anything he was glad the two girls had been able to shake hands and continue on with their apparent friendship after the bout had been decided. He wondered how many other heros were able to maintain such amiable relationships after challenges.

His suspicion was very few.

"Okay, it's set up," Kai called from behind the television.

"Sweet," Itsuka said. "And you're sure this won't fry our TV, right?"

"93 percent sure," Kai answered as he emerged from the tangled depths of the mythical land known as "Behind the TV."

"That still seems like a pretty significant margin of error," Itsuka said.

"Relax; if my brother designed it, it won't blow anything up. Unless it's supposed to blow something up. Anyway, the point is, even if it doesn't work, it won't be destructive. He's a freak about using safeguards," Mai assured Itsuka.

"What do you mean 'even if it doesn't work'?" Kai asked as he plunked down in a chair next to the couch.

"Nobody bats a thousand, little brother."

"We're twins," Kai pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm older by two minutes," Mai replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Stupid sister rushing out the birth canal," Kai grumbled. "So, what cinematic masterpiece are we using to test my new device?"

"Flesh Reaper 4: Hell's Reaping," Izuku mumbled.

There was a beat of silence before Kai's strangled voice managed to eke out one lone word: "Really?"

"Hey, it's like a week and a half before Halloween, the video store was pretty heavily favoring the horror section. I did the best I could," Izuku defended.

"You understand what I built, right? It's a three dimensional immersion device. We're not just talking about pictures standing off the screen, we're talking about being in the center of the film. We're talking about seeing the landscape of it in every direction, of sitting on this couch underwater, or in space, or on Mount Fuji. We're going to be utterly visually submerged in this world, and the world you chose for that is Flesh Reaper 3?" Kai asked.

"Flesh Reaper 4," Izuku corrected him. "Besides, it'll be fun to have something a little scary. All I'm doing for the real Halloween is going to some party that Momo found."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Mai said.

"Maybe not. I don't know, I've never to been to one of these before. Apparently it's hosted by one of the local frats, but everyone is welcome. You just have to be in costume and pay the five-buck entry charge," Izuku said with a bit nervously.

"Are you going?" Mai asked Itsuka.

"Already working on my costume," Itsuka said with a naughty smirk.

"You two are more than welcome," Izuku said. "Again, I don't know if it will be worth the five bucks, but if you've got nothing else to do it might be fun."

"We will certainly keep that in mind," Kai said. "At any rate, I think it's time to put my new invention through a test drive."

"Woo!" Itsuka yelled.

"Do it!" Izuku joined in.

"Um, go bro?" Mai said less enthusiastically.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you an entirely new way to watch movies, a way that is closer to living them than merely observing the pictures pass before your eyes," Kai said, firing up the remote.

"Years from now, when everyone is using these devices, tonight will be a historic night, the night when the first lucky viewers were given the privilege of experiencing a new level of glory in the film... Flesh Reaper." Kai's steam died off noticeably when he got to the movie title.

"Flesh Reaper 4," Izuku corrected

* * *

A week and change later found the male Melbrook residents, along with a few additions, gathering in the common room for one last wardrobe check before venturing off into the haunted night.

"Okay, pilgrims, y'all about ready to getting on the trail?" The questions came from a cowboy standing toward the center of the room. He wore faded jeans, a white linen shirt, and a brown duster along with a matching cowboy hat.

Slung low across his waist was a pair of gun belts with a plastic six-shooter tucked into each side. He had a three-day scruff on his face and casual posture, adding a sense of realism to the costume.

The whole thing was marred, though, by the presence of a pair of black sunglasses across his eyes.

"Seriously, Dex?" Izuku said, adjusted his chainmail. He was dressed as a knight, complete with plastic sword, plastic chainmail, and a plastic helmet, all spray-painted gray to look like metal. The effect was not altogether successful.

"If you're going to all the trouble of using an accent would it be so bad to take off the glasses?"

"Yes," Dex said quickly. "Plus, they add to the effect. Pardner."

"It does add a touch of dashing," Kai commented from his seat on the couch.

Kai was wearing a tailored black tuxedo, complimented with an array of hi-tech gadgets tucked away within its folds and pockets, for his costume of a spy.

"I don't think anyone will notice," Hitoshi tossed in, he wore a simple robe with a plastic saber on his hip. It was fighting he was dressed as a jedi and he could do the whole mind trick.

Izuku bit back a remark that wanted to snake out. Hitoshi was still an annoying at times, but he had toned it down tremendously since his fight with Todoroki. They rarely saw him do much else besides training when he wasn't in hanging with Denki. When he was around, though, he seemed to make a genuine effort not to verbally abuse those around him directly.

Indirectly it still seemed a free-for-all, but progress was progress.

"What's taking the girls so long?" Denki asked. He was standing near the hallway, wearing a white tunic with black pants underneath a brown robe. A familiar tubular metal device was fashioned to his hip, and anyone who wasn't utterly ignorant of classic sci-fi cinema was able to recognize his costume in a heartbeat. He and Hitoshi decided they would go as a team.

"Is that a real question?" Hitoshi asked. "I mean, you have met women at some point in your life, right?" he laughed, it seemed even his friend wasn't safe from his remarks.

"I'm sure they just want everything to look perfect," Izuku cut in. "I know Itsuka spent a lot of time on her costume, and I'm sure the others did as well."

"That we did," Ibarai said as the door to the girls' side opened and the women began trickling out from their lounge. Ibarai was dressed as a gypsy, wearing long flowing garments, a scarf, and rings of coins that jingled when she walked.

After her was Momo, who sported a nun's habit and dress, though it fit her form in ways the sisterhood would surely not have approved of, given that there was a slit up the side and bottom of it was not even near her knees.

"Wow, someone jumped whole hog onto the slutty train," Dex observed when Momo came into his field of vision.

Momo merely gave a shrug. "It is Halloween, after all."

"True, why a nun though? Pardner," Dex asked.

"It's kind of an inside joke. Think about it for a while," Momo replied.

"I sincerely hope my sister showed a touch more prudence in selecting her ensemble," Kai commented.

"Not that it's any of your business, little brother, but I think I walked a nice line," Mai said as she emerged through the door. Mai was decked out in what appeared to be a torn orange prisoner's jumpsuit.

While select parts of it were shredded or removed to create an aesthetic appeal given Mai's slender frame, it was definitely more conservative than Momo's, while not being quite as covering as Ibarai's.

Itsuka came out last, wearing a jumpsuit as well. Hers was in one piece, and unlike Mai's it was definitely sewn to fit her figure. In fact, a phrase like "skintight" would not have found itself out of place in describing her ensemble.

It was decorated with checkered flags and logos of various products. Aside from that her hair was flared out as though the wind had been blowing through it and she sported a pair of aviator sunglasses across her face.

"Hey, the glasses thing is sort of my shtick," Dex said.

"And when you make them look this good you can have that shtick back," Itsuka rebutted.

"Touché," Dex said, then hastily added, "Pardner."

"That's not getting old," Izuku mumbled, then turned his attention to Itsuka with a blush. "You look fantastic."

"Thanks. I love motorcycles and races, racecar drivers," she said. "Plus, I had it down to two options, and this was the one I could do and be sexy."

"What was the other?" Izuku asked.

"I was going to wear a football helmet and drag along a sign asking for a quirk and tell everyone I was a Quirkless," Itsuka said, all but cackling at her own humor. The others joined in, though Izuku was not quite so enthusiastically, and it should be noted that Denki didn't laugh at all.

"Yeah, that would have been a good one," Momo lied. "Anyway, let's get going. How are we doing cars?"

The group then began the sizeable chore that is transporting many people in limited vehicles to the same location.

It was solved in relatively short order, and the freshmen departed to the raucous Halloween party. Their spirits were high, but one of them were a bit lower than they had been.

On a day of costumes and pretend, he'd been reminded their outfits were a touch redundant, because he was already lying to everyone about who he really was.

* * *

As usual please read and review I would love to hear your thoughts!


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